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6rookie-writer0110 · 3 years

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You're the magician to my heart

Keira Knightley x Male Reader

Request - Could you do keira knightley x male!reader where they are on vacation.

You just left work and you have been having a rough week. You went straight home and ignored your boss. You open the door and walked straight to the bedroom, Keira can sense you're stressed out. You have been living in England with Keira for almost two years. You are just lying in bed with your work clothes on. She lies next to you and rubs your back gently. You turn your head around and face Keira, she smiled at you.

“What’s wrong, love” Keira said.

“Rough day at work. I'm glad this week is over” You sighed.

“You should leave that job. But how about we go away on a holiday” Keira said.

“Where should we go for vacation?” You asked.

“It's called a holiday,” Keira said.

You and Keira smiled at each other.

“And it's called soccer, not football,” You said.

“Whatever, y/n” Keira laughed.

You sat up and took off your shirt, Keira gets behind you and starts to massage your shoulders.

“Oh that feels good babe, don't stop” You smiled.

She doesn't stop massaging your shoulders.

“What are you in the mood for dinner?” Keira asked.

“How about tacos? We can make it” You said.

“Let's eat tacos,” Keira said.

You took a shower and changed clothes. You and Keira are in the kitchen making tacos, then start to talk about where to go on vacation. You and Keira still haven't agreed on where to go.

After dinner, you and Keira sit on the couch. You start to play on the PlayStation 5 and she has her legs on your lap.

“How about somewhere we never been? Maybe Greece?” You said.

“I have been there with my family. But I would go with you” Keira said.

“Awesome” You smiled.

You gave her a peck on the lips. While you are playing, Keira booked two tickets to Greece. Keira bought some stuff on Amazon and she bought you new swimming trunks. Later, you stopped playing and she cuddles with you and you watch tv with her.

“We will be in Greece for three weeks then we would go to Japan for two weeks. We will be staying at a house that we can rent,” Keira said.

“Awesome. Can't wait to leave” You said.

You and Keira start to make out on the couch. She can't stop smiling and you smiled back at her and kissed her hand.

✯ ✬ ✯ ✫

When you travel with Keira, you always sit in first class. Hours later, you and Keira arrived in Athens, Greece. You and Keira grabbed the luggage and went straight to the house.

Keira rented a house close to the beach. It has a pool and a small grill in the backyard, a master bedroom with a master bathroom and a walk-in closet, the living room and kitchen are updated with modern style, but the outside has the style of an old Greek home.

You and Keira lie on the bed, within a few minutes you and Keira fell asleep.

---

The next day, you and Keira woke up and decided to go to the beach. After packing some stuff in the backpack, you and Keira go to a small restaurant. Keira took out her camera and takes a picture of you. Because of your girlfriend, you got into photography before you didn't like taking pictures but she changed that. Keira helped you gain confidence in taking pictures. Later, after eating breakfast you and Keira walk towards the beach. Long the way, Keira takes pictures of everything and you.

You set the towels on the sand, you helped put sunblock on Keira and she did the same for you. You and Keira hold hands walk towards the water, but you moved away and she starts to laugh.

“What? It's cold” You said.

“Y/n, the water only touched your feet,” Keira said.

“It's still cold,” You said.

She grabbed your hand and you follow her into the water. Now the water is up to your waist and it's still cold. You and Keira go deeper into the water, now the water is up to your shoulders. Keira moved closer to you and you wrapped your arms around her.

“I love you, y/n,” Keira said and she kissed you.

“I love you too, babe” You smiled.

After a while of being in the water, you lie down on the towel next to Keira. She has her hand on top of your hand.

----

The past couple of days you and Keira have been exploring Athens. You and Keira went to see the historic sites, explored the food market, she rented a yacht and you never been on a yacht before and you were like a kid. You and Keira did take more pictures together during the trip. Keira had more fun in cooking class, learning to cook Greek food. The next day, you and Keira went to the Acropolis Museum.

You did get hooked on Greek coffee. You and Keira rented bikes and went around town. It was her idea to do it and you went along with it. But you had an accident, you hurt your wrist because someone crashed into you and you hit the ground hard. And you scraped your knee badly. Keira took you to the hospital.

You and Keira were in the hospital all night. Finally going home, you just lie in bed and she cuddles with you.

✯ ✬ ✯ ✫

You and Keira still went to Japan but you're wearing a wrist brace. You and Keira are loving Tokyo and the food. You and Keira took many selfies and other pictures together. Keira did take some pictures with some fans, later you bought a bracelet for her and she loved it. Keira wrapped her arms around you and she starts to kiss you passionately.

“Let’s go back home early, I'm feeling tired,” Keira said.

She gave you a peck on the lips. You and Keira had dinner at a restaurant then decided to walk around and look at the sights during the night. While walking around, Keira takes pictures of you she likes how the lights on you.

“It is getting late. Let's go home and sleep” You said.

You and Keira grabbed a cab but you had to write down the address on your phone, show it to the driver and he nods. 20 minutes, you and Keira are happy to be in bed.

-----

You woke up early and Keira is still sleeping, you left without saying a word. You looked online for the nearest jewelry shop, you start to look around. You found the perfect engagement ring and you buy it. You leave and buy breakfast and flowers a d you can't stop smiling.

“Babe, where did you go?” Keira asked.

She just came out of the shower with your bathrobe on.

“I went to buy breakfast and I got flowers for you,” You said.

You kiss her on the lips and she smiled. You didn't tell her about the ring, because you are feeling unsure how to ask Keira to marry you.

“Y/n, thank you for the flowers I love it. Let's eat, I'm starving,” Keira said.

“Let's eat,” You said.

She sits down and you set the food on the table. You want the proposal to be romantic but you are not sure how to do it. For now, you will save the ring until you come up with an idea.

#keira knightley #Keira Knightley imagine #Keira Knightley x reader #Keira Knightley x male reader #male reader #x male reader

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ajwamiju-archives · 2 years

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hey hello!! congratulations on reaching the milestone , and i'd like to join the matchup event :] i'm an INTP. for the physical appearance , my hair is dark brown , below-waist length and my height is around 5'3 [161 cm]. i like to read , write , draw and listen to music. and if possible please make it be pure fluff!! [ and btw i kin yamaguchi and yachi :D] thank you in advance!!!

Ah!!! Hello to you too and thank you so much for joining Anon!

I have to admit, it was a bit challenging because I was conflicted on who to pair you with because I had a few candidates lined up, but I ended up sticking with this person because I thought they'd be the best fit. I hope you enjoy the one-shot!

Always remember to stay hydrated and healthy!

You never realised how boring it could get when you have to stay home for an extended period of time.

At first it was just a two week’s break from your busy schedule due to a new virus looming the corners of Japan, but it has extended into three months and counting now and you’ve barely left the house, only doing so to buy groceries or any other necessities at the nearby market.

It sucks, to put it lightly. You’ve finished just about everything from your job due to the reduced workload from the receding number of clients as well as reading just about everything on the bookshelf twice over. You’ve also cleaned your apartment spotless just a week ago and you’re itching to clean the whole thing once more, maybe redecorate for the sake of doing something. You sigh to yourself and start going through your bookshelf in hopes of finding something to read to pass time, skimming through titles until you stop on one of the books slipped in one of the shelves.

You pull it out and realise it’s a photo album, deciding to open it for a quick nostalgia trip and hopefully, the contents are enough to distract you for the time being. You sit on the sofa and open it, smiling as you read the words on the very first page as well as the doodles scribbled about.

“What’cha got there?”

You look up from the album and smile, seeing your dear husband walking to the fridge to get a drink. Sugawara walks over to you once he’s gotten his glass of cold water and sits next to you, peering over your shoulder to take a look.

“Just finished teaching?” You ask, placing a hand on his shoulder and rubbing it affectionately.

“Mhm, the kids are starting to get affected by the quarantine though, a lot of them have been less motivated to learn.” He sighs and leans onto you. “I’ll have to start getting even more creative to get their attention again.”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to think of something.” You mutter, pulling his head to rest on your shoulder. “Oh, and I found this album of us! Makes me remember of the time we met.”

Sugawara laughs, opening the album to when you two graduated from high school. “Yeah, you were so nervous when you first talked to me.”

“Okay, but to be fair, I spilled juice all over your uniform and notes.”

“They were volleyball notes, not to mention, I barely had anything in it.”

“But still!”

You remember clearly the day you met the love of your life. Back then, you had been running through the halls as you were late for your gym class, trying to gulp down orange juice at the same time since you skipped lunch due to the teacher calling you for some reason you can barely remember. The halls were empty by then, so you sprinted with all your might, hoping to at least make it back before warm-ups finish.

Unfortunately for you, fate was not on your side that day. You ended up bumping into someone as you were passing the toilets, causing you to lose grip of your orange juice carton and send it flying to whoever you bumped into while you fall back, landing on your rear. You look up and your eyes widen to when you see your juice spilled all over a guy you’re somewhat familiar with.

His brown eyes stared at his ruined uniform as well as the juice that got on his notes. You gasped and crawled over to where he sat, apologising profusely as you took the now empty juice carton. He was so nice, telling you it’s fine and that it was just an accident, brushing it off as he assessed the damage to his notebook.

“It’s fine, seriously. Accidents happen, this book doesn’t contain anything that important and I can just transfer what I have in here to a new notebook.” He said after assessing his book, waving off your string of apologies. “You’re [Surname]-san from class 2-5, right? You probably shouldn’t run in the halls.”

“Yes um… Sugawara-san from class 2-4? Well, I can’t exactly help it, I was running because I was late for gym class.” You answered as you started to stand up. “Oh my god… I’m late for gym class! I’m so sorry but I have to go! I’ll treat you to something later as an apology for your clothes and notebook, but I have to hurry!” You said as you started sprinting once more to the gym once more, ignoring Sugawara’s calls for you.

You didn’t realise it then, but you had dropped your scrunchie and Sugawara was trying to give it back to you since you would have a hard time in gym class. You did have a hard time during gym, but you also got to meet the cute guy from the class next to yours much more than the two instances of returning your scrunchie and treating him something from the minimarket near the school.

Sugawara laughs airily at the memory, remembering how you had tried to buy him a new notebook, which he refused in favour of a cold drink during summer instead. “We only met again long after we graduated high school, right? When you helped one of the kids in my class find his way to school after he got lost.”

“Yeah, you weren’t subtle when you were gawking all over me then.” You giggle, remembering how Sugawara had eyed you up and down once he sees you after all those times.

“Was I really that obvious?”

“You were, the kids even noticed and teased you for it, so that’s saying something. It’s a shame we didn’t exchange contacts sooner, but I suppose that helped with the surprise factor.”

You two laugh as you go through the album again, stopping to talk about the time Sugawara finally asked you out on a date, or when he proposed to you with the help of his students, and of course you can’t skip on talking about the wedding.

You remember the light drizzle of rain as well as the sun shining down on the shrine that day, how your friends and family gathered to witness the union between you and the love of your life (the reception was also really fun, his old volleyball club members and students helped a lot in making it lively). You smile wider as you lean onto Sugawara more, stopping when you see the empty pages of the album after a photo of when you got your first apartment together.

“The album’s still kinda empty…” You mumble, counting the blank pages of the album.

“Only means that we have to continue filling it with more memories, right?”

You nod, kissing Sugawara’s forehead as you close the album. “I love you, Koushi. Let’s continue making more memories together.”

“I love you too, [Name].”

Join the match-up + one-shot event here!

#sugawara x reader #haikyu x reader #haikyuu!!#haikyū!!#sugawara fluff #sugawara x you #sugawara koushi #sugawara koushi x reader #sugawara koshi x reader #sugawara koushi x you #ajwamiju events

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espbee · 5 years

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i wasn’t originally going to post this since i’ve seen several other (perfectly valid) mob psycho timelines out there but you all wanted to see it so here it is!

this does not include pre-canon or the reigen spin off. the first b/c i didn’t really care lol and the second b/c i haven’t read the spin off for reasons i’m sure you already know.

almost every single one of these dates is based on canon evidence (see notes below) but a few are speculation. i go into depth under the cut so if you want to know, say, exactly what day mob buys the monkey shirt you can find out. if you want to see a specific panel hmu!

feel free to use as reference when writing fanfics or meta or whatever else you might want to use it for :D just please don’t repost

Spring of Youth Arc

it’s not super important how many days pass in ep 1 but i think it’s all within a week. might be some overlap with ep 2 (tunnel exorcism on same day takenaka quits club? according to the manga it happens later anyway)

going by anime here: takenaka quits the club monday or tuesday, tome asks mob to join the club wednesday if i remember right (also the day he goes to the girl’s high school) and he joins the body improvement club friday)

(LOL) Cult Arc

not much to say. it’s literally an afternoon and the teru arc starts the very next day

Teruki Hanazawa Arc

happens basically immediately after the cult. like mob knows dimple for like 3 days before he’s “exorcised”

fight on a friday bc it’s on weekend news

aftermath: mob in pink hoodie probably on saturday, mezato interrogates him monday

Big Cleanup Arc

shigeo mentions in the divine tree arc that student council meetings are on mondays. however only having weekly meetings would make this arc take a really long time so i’m guessing it’s semiweekly. i’m guessing the other day is thursday because ritsu says he has a meeting on the thursday that mob confesses

same monday as end of teru arc: student council meeting where ritsu suggests a big cleanup, mitsuura gives ritsu his card

thursday: big cleanup plan submitted, mezato and onigawara look for mob (for totally different reasons), ritsu in the street w/ tokugawa

next monday: student council plans to get rid of onigawara

awakening lab might be on the same day as above but i’m not sure, mob also goes on a “date” with tome that day and sees koyama for the first time. that night is when shinji’s family gets after him for not being perfect and he decides to go apeshit

i’m guessing the recorder scandal happens the next morning (wednesday?). it doesn’t actually say if ritsu awakens that exact day but i’m just going to say it does

a little bit of time goes by (about a week?) ritsu’s becoming popular and he develops his psychic power. teru vs ritsu happens somewhere here. people are complaining about the big clean up

the day that ritsu and kamuro confront onigawara in the body improvement club room is the same day that ritsu first attacks the delinquents from the other schools (monday)

im guessing a day goes by before kamuro is beaten up (tuesday), then another day before he’s beaten up again (wednesday)

kamuro is absent from the student council meeting the next thursday

ritsu only has his powers for 9 days before announcing that he’s obtained loss

7th Division Arc

one month before touichirou arrives in japan. this makes sense because it’s not like the day he arrives he’s going to attack. touichirou probably arrives in late september or early october, prepares things for a couple weeks

mob goes to shinji’s house on sunday, ritsu and mob talk on the swings monday, shinji apologizes to onigawara tuesday. the kageyama parents know about ritsu’s power by tuesday night (what was that conversation like)

Mob’s Girlfriend Mini-Arc

2 weeks long: one for the elections and one for the dating

sidenote: psycho helmet cult has gained 700 followers by now and it’s been about a month according to mezato (and the timeline!)

mob works the monday after his brother’s kidnapped jeez reigen give the kid a break

going to say it’s wednesday when shinji resigns

mezato talks to mob about running on thursday

one week later: elections! (going to say they’re on a friday). emi asks him out that afternoon

mob and emi “date” for a week. im guessing she “breaks up” with him friday and he fixes her torn up story on monday since there’s enough time for everyone to react. i think the anime has all that happen on the same day though. either way is good

Urban Legend Arc

reigen complains about four days without customers

kuchisake-onna: it’s the weekend b/c mob’s wearing a sweater instead of his uniform and also b/c i doubt mob skipped school

reigen makes his website overnight and mob’s wearing his uniform the next day which means the trip to the urban legend town has to be on sunday

the first trip to the ghost house is on a sunday (what a busy day!), and the second trip is on monday

Keiji Mogami Arc

literally the day after the ghost house wtf (so… tuesday?)

if it feels like 6 months for mob would that mean he’s almost a third year in the dream world? or already is a third year? oh no…

uh technically there’s an aftermath the next day but really the arc is one day

Separate Ways Arc

kumagawa’s birthday is in late september btw. idk if there’s any kumagawa stans out there but now you know he’s a libra

kijibayashi’s birthday: 10/5? (also the day mob finally cant take reigen’s bs anymore)

mob doesn’t show up to work for at least four days pre-birthday (probably five days since kijibayashi’s birthday needs to be on a school day)

reigen’s birthday: 10/10 (also i’m assuming this is either the day of or the day after he defeats the video game thing)

he has to have enough time to offer classes and become a local celebrity… i’d assume he offers that course at his office that friday night (10/12). he’s interviewed that day too. a few days later he goes on tv (i’m going to say 10/15)

goes to bar 3 days after the tv show (wednesday 10/17)

thursday 10/18: reporterless-day

friday 10/19: press conference, “my master… he is a good person” *sobs*)

World Domination Arc

mob has 10 days to prepare for the marathon

marathon on friday (11/2)

teru fights shimazaki for the first time saturday morning, mob doesn’t wake up until sometime in the afternoon, and rei-gun is in the evening

mob sleeps like 18 hours… oof

the kageyama parents return home monday evening

Yokai Hunter Mini-Arc

this isn’t listed as seperate from the Divine Tree Arc according to the wiki but i’m calling it a mini-arc because the broccoli isn’t really the focus

mob mentions the future prospects assignment is due in a week

seri starts working at spirits and such a few days after the wd arc ends

going to guess there’s some overlap with the future prospects assignment and that it’s due sometime during culture festival preparations because otherwise the timeline breaks

okay everyone i know culture festivals are usually on or around november 3rd but according to all canon evidence there is absolutely no way that can happen on time. there’s literally no time. it has to take place at least 2 weeks after the wd arc

going to say the culture festival is nov. 18 because that’s all that makes sense (the previous weekend is too soon, and the next weekend is after the divine tree arc

Divine Tree Arc

Friday: Tsubomi sneezes — why dont u stop doing bad things

Saturday: buys The Shirt

Sunday: Psycho Helmet

Monday: Teru, Ritsu, and Reigen all brainwashed, Mob vs Dimple part 2

Telepathy Mini-Arc

finally a nice long break :D

find out about takenaka about one month after Divine Tree Arc

aliens on New Year’s Eve/Day

inukawa’s abducted by aliens for 10 days

???% Arc

inukawa has to be back by the time school starts

Mob finds out Tsubomi’s leaving the day he gets back from winter break (monday) :(

i think he calls her two days later?

the day after that mob is hit by a fucking car (also student council day so… thursday)

Epilogue + Omakes

we all know the epilogue is on 10/10/2013

the summer omake has to be after the ???% arc but i’m not sure what day. probably july

idk what else to say other than i can’t believe i spent so much time on this

#this took a really long time wow #i wrote this before ep 13 so anime things might be a little different #telepathic signals #mp100 #mp100 manga spoilers #ask to tag

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bakudekuficlibrary · 5 years

Text

BakuDeku: Praise Kink

3 Series. 53 Works.

Izuku's Home for Wayward Pets by glamour_weeb ( E | 44,400+ | 10/? )

Izuku works at the Bureau of Companion Protection as a rehabilitator for abused and abandoned Companions, animal-human hybrids. He’s seen his fair share of cruelty cases and even fostered a few Companions, but he’s never had a Companion of his own, until now. After rescuing Katsuki from a life in an illegal, underground Companion fighting ring, Izuku must take in the wolfdog that no one else can handle.

Eventually, Katsuki comes to love his new home, as well as his new Master.

[Graphic Depictions of Violence | PTSD | Past Abuse]

As Fate Would Have It by ScientificallySinful (VampireGaaraCheesepuffs) ( E | 85,369 | 19/19 )

Katsuki Bakugo had plenty of reasons why he wasn't mated yet, not that he was going to explain why to just anyone. But now, Ground Zero was running out of time. If he didn't find someone soon, he'd lose his position as a Pro-Hero and he'd never get to be #1. So, when he finds out there's a male Omega recently arrested for prostitution that's headed to prison if he too doesn't get a mate…well it must be fate.

Izuku Midoriya doesn't know if he should laugh or cry when his childhood bully shows up in front of his jail cell asking him to be his mate. He also didn't know if it was good or bad that Kacchan didn't seem to recognize him, but fate hasn't been kind to him before so why should it start now? COMPLETE

Series Part 1 of As Fate Would Have It World Part 1 of A/B/Ohhh ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[Implied/Referenced Suicide | Past Abuse | Past Rape/Non-Con | Past Bullying | Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent]

A Trip Up No-Memory Lane by acernor ( E | 30,875 | 16/16 )

Midoriya loses his memory to a villain's quirk in senior year and re-meets his classmates for the first time. With 20x the confidence, he takes absolutely 0% of Bakugo's shit, and pushes back when Bakugo tries to push him around.

Bakugo likes it.

Uraraka/Asui is the side pairing.

Series Part 1 of MidoBaku

[Series] The 'BD' in 'BDSM' is for BakuDeku by Skaii ( E | 34,771 | 2 Works | Abandoned )

In the process of rescuing a girl from a villain, Katsuki becomes afflicted by an aphrodisiac quirk. His pride refuses to let him be a victim. But for once, maybe Deku helping him won't be so bad...

In the wake of 'The Incident,' as Deku has taken to calling it, he and Katsuki are left to chart the unfamiliar waters of what they both want: a relationship. (A relationship that happens to involve a lot of kinky shenanigans.)

[Underage | Dissociation | Attempted Rape/Non-Con]

{ Curator’s Note: The attempted rape tag is followed by the tag “(But it’s not the main pairing and nothing really happens)” meaning it does not happen to Bakugou Katsuki or Midoriya Izuku nor are they the ones to make that attempt. }

Grief Counseling by Merrywetherweather ( E | 48,279 | 19/19 )

Katsuki remembered the first time he had failed to save someone, watched helplessly in horror as an elderly man had been crushed beneath the girth of a thrown car. He had already propelled himself forward to grab a small boy when he noticed, too late, the car fly by overhead. Two other heroes had been on the scene at the time and had assured him.

There was nothing that could have been done.

Most of class 1-A had already gone through a similar experience. The only one left with a clean track record in the rescue department had been Deku.

Well, except for today.

A slowburn fic where Kacchan tries to convince Deku to take advantage of the grief counseling provided for free to heroes experiencing their first failed rescues. Lots of flirting. Healing their relationship comes first. The romantic bit where they fall helplessly and stupidly in love comes after.

[PTSD | Panic Attacks]

bakugou katsuki becomes a power bottom by writedeku ( E | 3,496 | 1/1 )

It is hard to describe what Izuku is doing to him, the extent of which he’s being — it suddenly occurs to Katsuki when he belatedly realises his nose is buried into his crotch — he’s being used. Him! Bakugou Katsuki, on the track to becoming the best hero in Japan, is being used. He pulls off to catch his breath, tears brimming in his eyes, his throat hoarse —

[Mildly Dubious Consent]

Just Look At Me by Colourcubify ( E | 42,043 | 11/11 )

Midoriya is completely happy with his life. Nope, not one single regret in his twenty-seven years. He especially doesn't regret running into his old childhood friend/bully after almost ten years, nor does he regret spilling coffee all over his very expensive looking suit. How nice it will be to die with no regrets. ~~~~ AKA the sugar daddy AU I meant to be a one shot, that turned into a full fledged story.

Pure Morning by lalazee ( E | 1,680 | 1/1 )

Dreamy, morning sex.

Prompt fill for: Bakugou bottoming for the first time, with praise kink.

Sour Silk by BrightEyesEren ( E | 6,116 | 1/1 )

Midoriya Izuku starts to receive random gifts at his door. Chaos ensues when he realises he has a sugar daddy.

Unhealthy Fixations by Thesis ( E | 12,522 | 1/1 )

Izuku is an adult who knows better than to crush on his childhood bully. AND YET.

Chapter 31 of Kiwi's bkdk Kinktober Collection 2018 by SecretKiwi ( E | 2,711 | 1 out of 32 )

Warnings: Omorashi, wetting, dom/sub undertones, humiliation, praise kink

I honestly don't know a ton about this, so I guess I portrayed it in the way that makes the most sense to me! I hope I did it right!

Kind of a follow up to chapter 15 but not necessary to read (but why wouldn't you want to??)

cliff's edge by umbrage ( E | 3,061 | 1/1 )

Bakugou is sure there's a perfectly alpha-centric explanation to his deviancy.

Or maybe, there isn't, and that's okay, too.

Sick Like Animals by osakakitty ( E | 3,848 | 1/1 )

Whenever Katsuki Bakugo is struck by his seasonal heat, Izuku Midoriya agrees to help him until it ends. He takes Bakugo into his care, providing him with the stimulation he needs. One morning, after a night of light sex, Bakugo unfortunately finds his heat unquenched.

Fantasy AU in which Katsuki Bakugo is half-beast, and Izuku Midoriya is an alchemist in-training. They both have a mutual understanding and need and for each other. Sex ensues.

Devil in me by Acidiic ( E | 5,912 | 1/1 )

Izuku just wanted to have a nice time with his close friends. Parties can get crazy, yeah, he knew that. That’s why he tried to stick close to comfort. Never would he imagined his night ending up sobbing and moaning his best friend's name.

[Underage]

Blinding Brilliance by SecretKiwi ( E | 8,538 | 1/1 )

The fact that Katsuki could even think Izuku looked down on him was mind-blowing. Baffling. He’s only ever looked to Katsuki with stars in his eyes; with a wide-eyed fascination that could only be rivaled by All Might himself.

“Y-you thought of me that way…?” Izuku’s voice is soft, unsure, and honestly? Hurt. He couldn’t see how his constant commendation and devotion could ever be seen as something negative.

Deku and Kacchan work out their feelings towards each other, and Izuku proves to him that his admiration was always sincere.

My Canon compliant version of Kacchan v Deku 2 and the day after.

[Underage]

If you give me your hand, I'll surrender my heart by soulstring ( E | 5,254 | 1/1 )

“We could be fucking. I could be having the greatest sex ever but no! My husband is an idiot and now my dick is about to fall off. Why the fuck did I marry you?”

It’s a rhetorical question but Izuku still answers naively with a, “Because you love me?”

“For tax benefits!” Katsuki wails, raising his hands to the ceiling.

In which Izuku and Katsuki are no longer teenagers but still horny, in love, and a mess.

Series Part 1 of weddings, receptions, and other plans gone awry

you're prettier with your mouth shut by capncapnk ( E | 3,614 | 1/1 )

He hates how sensitive he is, how he arches up into the touch, how nice it is for Deku to keep running his mouth with whatever sappy, syrupy bullshit comes to his mind, even if he’d rather die than admit he likes this vanilla shit Deku has to offer.

---

In which Deku has a thing for Bakugou's hands and Bakugou has a thing for nice words

crescent fever by umbrage ( E | 4,116 | 1/1 )

The night before a full moon, a werewolf’s inhibitions are at an all-time low.

It's Gonna Take A Superman To Sweep Me Off My Feet by minzie ( E | 6,608 | 1/1 )

Deku getting horny with his Ground Zero body pillow, but this time it's the real one - The Sequel

Series Part 2 of Holding A Hero

Unbidden Praise by GreyLiliy ( T | 6,693 | 3/3 )

Izuku hadn’t been aware that unbidden praise from Kacchan would have such an effect on his composure, but after a compliment or two from Kacchan, he sure knows now! Izuku’s not sure his heart (or self control) can take it if Kacchan keeps being so nice.

Again? Again. by Unoutan ( E | 3,939 | 1/1 )

Bakugou sleep too early, more early than usual, so he has woken up too early as well. However, that is not his current problem. He's been up for an hour now and he's still not...satisfied. His boyfriend is the only one that can help him...at 4-something in the morning.

Prompt: Vitality

[Series] Only Comes Once a Year by DMMegsie ( E | 17,761+ | 2 Works | On Hiatus )

During their first year, with all the hectic events, birthday celebrations fell to the wayside. However, now in their second year, the class is trying to celebrate everyone's special date.... except for a certain explosive temper student.

Katsuki Bakugou didn't really celebrate his birthday through middle school and never told anyone when the date was.

It was only when some of the class realizes that Izuku Midoriya knows, that trouble starts brewing. It also brings the question to mind of: Why does Katsuki hate his birthday in the first place?

It has been two months.

School and the end of a term has really kept both Izuku and Katsuki apart with the exception for brief moments here and there in private. With their budding relationship a secret, and Izuku's birthday on the horizon, it is only natural they'd want to take things further.

This is a sequel to the fic Birthday Secrets.

[Underage]

The Pocky Game by rekamohcs ( M | 4,981 | 1/1 )

As if Izuku didn’t have enough trouble keeping his intruding feelings for his unfairly attractive best friend at bay, Ochako had to go and teach him about the Pocky Game. Now here he was, his lips wrapped around one end of a chocolate stick, while Katsuki’s wrapped around the other, faces mere inches apart.

And they were both too stubborn to back down.

Izuku had a feeling he knew where this was headed.

(He made a mental note to remember to thank Ochako later.)

Your Rabbit by KingHugin ( E | 7,259 | 1/1 )

when Kacchan tells him to wear the costume, Izuku knows exactly whats going to happen.

I Got You, You Got Me by minzie ( E | 10,533 | 1/1 )

Deku didn’t want anyone to know this Katsuki, didn’t want to share him with anyone else. He held all these things he knew about him very, very dear, wrote them down in his neatest handwriting with little hearts surrounding them, in case he should ever forget them. He knew he wouldn’t, but that didn’t stop him. It made him feel a little more reassured, and, frankly, sometimes also a bit superior.

In which Deku and Katsuki once again realize how important they are to each other.

Be Good by Whinyskeleton ( E | 2,563 | 1/1 )

Katsuki was naked except for the leather collar on his neck and the ropes on his arms, binding them behind his back. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, Izuku between his legs, rubbing his hands up and down Katsuki's thighs reassuringly. His hands were warm, strong, confident. He slowly grabbed a bottle of oil off the bed and began rubbing it over Katsuki's chest while whispering into his ear.

"Are you going to be good for me today?"

Orange Lace by Devasta ( E | 1,205 | 1/1 )

He'd pressed it in with wet noises and his lips brushing Izuku's ear, promising a good, hard fuck if his kitten kept it in the entire time.

Katsuki definitely isn't a liar.

these things you tell me by kagome_angel ( E | 3,981 | 1/1 )

“You look really good like this,” Izuku murmurs, and the compliment makes him feel hot all over. “I should have convinced you to let me do this sooner, Kacchan.”

Izuku knows how to get what he wants, and he knows how to give Katsuki what he needs.

Class A Approves BakuDeku by AshidoMyBurritos ( E | 8,006 | 1/1 )

Thanks to Jirou, the BakuSquad and Class A realize just how perfect Midoriya is for Bakugou.

Heat Check by SecretKiwi ( E | 979 | 1/1 )

Deku thinks Bakugou's winter suit is a great modification!

[Underage]

Impatience by mynyaas ( E | 1,274 | 1/1 )

Deku needs to go to the bathroom when Bakugou decides to get in the way and things get kinky

[Underage]

Penché by QueerPinoy ( E | 1,133 | 1/1 )

Midoriya is supposed to look delicate. The long arch of his back leading into slim legs and pointed toes is supposed to be elegant.

To Bakugou, it’s sexy.

From the darkness of the audience seats, he feels no shame staring blatantly as his ass, the bulge of his dick in his leotard, watches how high his leg can go and oh god, he wants him. He wants to devour the unblemished curve of his neck, break down everything that is graceful about him. He wants to fuck the angel right out of him.

Series Part 7 of bakubowl

[Series] Praise Me by DanaEliza ( E | 12,873 | 3 Works | WIP )

“Do you think I’m good, Deku?” “Good at what?” Izuku replied confused, but Katsuki just stared at him, waiting on an answer. “Yeah, I think you’re good."

Aka Bakugo liked to be praised, and Midoriya likes to please...

“Can’t get enough of me, can you?”

“I can’t help it,” Izuku whispered. “I think you got me addicted.” ... Aka Midoriya is really craving Bakugo, and knows just what to say to get what he wants. Continuation on "You Are The Best"

“What the hell was your idea with the mirror anyway?” “I just thought you would love to see how strong you look when you bend me over and take me from behind.”

Aka Izuku thinks he has found the perfect thing to add to their sex life, but it doesn't work out the way he had expected it would.

[Underage]

Day of the Dead by JunNoAce ( E | 10,676 | 1/1 )

There was no worse feeling than believing that you were to weak to protect the person you held most precious to you and living out your life without them. Imagine Bakugou Katsuki's shock when he finds his Deku again half a century after his murder jumping into his arms. .... It's a romantic tragedy with porn. Lol!

[Graphic Depictions of Violence | Major Character Death]

you have nothing to hide from me by QueerPinoy ( E | 2,582 | 1/1 )

Midoriya Izuku is ashamed of who he is. Who… they are? Who she is? He’s still not sure but he sure as hell doesn’t want to think about it right now. He pushes his femininity away like it’s a shameful thing, something to stay hidden, keep to himself. Sometimes he slips, lets a gesture through. Once he even painted his nails and kept them on for a whole day -- black, an acceptable nail color for a boy going through his teenage angst. But this, the Izuku, he saw looking at himself in the dress he had mail-ordered, is his secret. The dress doesn’t quit him quite right -- it drapes where it should be tight, falls too low on his torso, but it’s still precious and he still grins a stilted smile when he looks at himself in the mirror. No one would ever know about this dress. No one would ever know how he felt.

Bakugou Katsuki is the opposite. He could probably be stealth if he wasn’t so bombastic about who he is. He doesn’t even whisper it, doesn’t just tell his friends -- he yells it out. “How the fuck am I more of a fuckin’ man than you?” “I’ve got more balls than you without even fucking having any!” He never bothers hiding. He has no shame. Izuku yearns to know what that’s like.

Series Part 3 of bakubowl

the tides by LordExplodo-Angst (QueerPinoy) ( E | 13,052 | 7/7 )

It would probably take Midoriya days to list the things he admired about Bakugou. His definition of victory, one of the greatest hero proteges he’d ever heard of, a glorious talent on the battlefield, of course. Beyond the public reasons, which everyone at Yuuei acknowledged, however reluctantly, Midoriya also loved the smaller things about Bakugou -- the tender way he smoothed his hands over his bed after it was made, the internal pep-talk he gave himself every morning in the mirror as he checked himself from all angles, the quiet, strained look he made when he actually managed to stop himself from speaking out of turn. Midoriya loved Bakugou’s diligence, his confidence, his self-assuredness.

He yearned the latter.

----

Midoriya yearns for the self-confidence Bakugou has with his body, his gender, and Bakugou is trying, trying to help him.

[Transphobic Language | Homophobic Language | Panic Attacks | Mentions of Past Suicide Attempt]

Demanded Praise by GreyLiliy ( E | 5,793 | 1/1 )

Since his debut as a Pro Hero, Izuku receives praise from almost everyone he meets. His mentor, his mother, his friends, and his fans all hold nothing back when they tell Izuku how far he’s come and how much he’s done for the world as a Hero.

But there’s only one person Izuku wants to hear praise from at night and dragging it out of that man’s lips takes some work (but it’s always worth it).

[Mildly Dubious Consent]

[On Hiatus] Gifted with a Curse by JunNoAce ( E | 29,731+ | 5/? )

Updated to Explicit for future chapters. There will be sex and some possible deaths and possible trolling to readers. Main ship is KatsuDeku, some others may be present.

~~~~~~~~ 19 year old Izuku and his mother moves in a new village in the country side. Izuku has the strange hobby of studying and learning about the mysteries behind magic, curses, and so on. He meets Shoto a traveler who seems to have been on many adventures. Izuku is very curious about what stories the boy may have to tell but feels embarrassed by how nice the other treats him. One day his mother leaves to visit a shop in their old town and doesn't make it back home on time. Izuku worried goes to search for her and comes across an old castle. Here is where he meets him, a cursed Lord Katsuki filled with rage and with the appearance of a beast.

Equals by shotodoki ( E | 3,878 | 1/1 )

While on house arrest for fighting after the provisional hero license exam, Bakugo gives a strange request to Midoriya.

[Underage]

Give Me Strength by CounterKnight291543 ( E | 2,230 | 1/1 )

Seeing how much Midoriya has grown is making Bakugo feel weak. Thankfully, his childhood friend is on hand to change that.

Inspired by the amazing work of @reallycorking, god bless you and your art :3

A BakuDeku smut one-shot. Enjoy!

A Hero Awakens by Love_Ignition ( E | 34,022+ | 6/? )

Katsuki's entire life up until this point had basically been a lie. He'd learned to be a master of deception, never letting anyone get too close, never letting anyone know his true self. Everything had been focused on one goal, graduating from high school and finally becoming the number one hero he knew he was destined to be. But his future was balanced on a knife's edge, thanks to the one person who always managed to find a way to get under his skin. He was the itch Katsuki just couldn't scratch, and no matter how hard he tried to deny it, Deku was always on his mind.

Don't want the world to see me by undertake_r ( M | 4,167+ | 2/? )

Katsuki doesn’t really think of himself as a good person. He never has, he knows he isn’t.

He supposes this was just karma coming back to bite him in the ass.

His dull red eyes stare up at the grey sky, blurry with the rain falling from the clouds above as it mingles with the blood from his weeping shoulder and probably broken nose. The dull throb from the slice in his arm felt warm as his natural healing closed the wound slower than normal.

He’s going to have to use his last packet of blood on this bullshit. Fuck.

[Graphic Depictions of Violence]

At Midnight by Emikumaa ( E | 4,281 | 1/1 )

Bakugou's finally come to terms with what he wants in life, after two years of running from his problems he's going to face them tonight. As the clock counts down to midnight, he seizes his chance and confesses to Midoriya.

Dear Santa, I Can Explain... by greatcloudninja ( E | 2,070 | 1/1 )

Izuku agrees to cover for a co-worker for the agency's annual Christmas tradition of visiting the children's hospital, but things don't go as expected when the costume isn't exactly what Izuku had in mind...

Vietnamese translation available! https://bakudekuvn.home.blog/2018/12/25/fanfic-dich-ma-gui-ong-gia-noel-tui-co-the-giai-thich-greatcloudninja/

oh, kuso! by dolldeku ( E | 619 | 1/1 )

never give your mother a key to your apartment.

Dinner is Served by GreyDayMoon ( E | 2,173 | 1/1 )

Izuku comes home late from a day of hero work to find Katsuki already making dinner. He's tired, but seeing Katsuki there makes him renewed with energy and boldness. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) lol

Series Part 2 of Married Pros: Broccoli and Dandelion

With Passion by TheQueen ( E | 3,142 | 1/1 )

Both as kids and as teens mending a broken friendship, Katsuki had a hard time accepting Deku's sincerity. It was hard to accept the fact that every compliment and awe-inspired rant that fell so easily from Deku's lips was entirely genuine. It isn’t until they start dating and, even later, when they started experimenting in the bedroom that Katsuki begins to believe that Deku does not say things lightly. Only then does Katsuki start to believe in Deku's love.

Two Guys and Lots of Fries by hottamale ( E | 3,101 | 1/1 )

“Ten Guys! I wanna go to Ten Guys; they have the best french fries,” he smiled while looking at Katsuki expectantly.

Katsuki frowned. “We just passed it though.”

“So turn around.”

“And waste my gas? Shits expensive Deku.”

Izuku breathed in, held his breath for a moment, and let it back out. He put a hand on Katsuki’s bicep and blinked up at him, bottom lip jutting out into a pout. “Please? I’ll make it up to you.”

Series Part 24 of It's a Concept

Look at me, I'm begging for more by Yunael ( E | 2,081 | 1/1 )

INKTOBER 2018 JOUR 2 - SUPPLICATIONS

« S-s’il te plaît… S’il te plaît, Kacchan… J’en ai besoin… J’ai besoin d’aide… - Et pourquoi je devrais t’aider ? - Parce que… Il n’y a que toi qui sois en mesure de me faire me sentir aussi bien… »

Series Part 2 of Inktober 2018

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spring-emerald · 7 years

Note

Ushimoni and 19! :D

Thank you for sending this one @onceabluemoonwrites! And I really do apologize if its late. I hope you enjoy this!

“Moniwa-sensei,” asoft voice of a little boy says behind Moniwa, accompanied with a light tuggingon his khaki work pants.

“Yes?” He turns awayfrom his work of fixing the art shelf leaving the assistant to watch over thekids having recess. He squats down to speak with the boy at eye level. “What isit, Yoshihiro-kun?” he asks with a gentle smile.

Yoshihiro looks awayfrom him briefly, fumbling at something behind his back. Moniwa patientlywaited for him to answer. After a few moments, Yoshihiro brings out his arm infront of him. Moniwa looks down a little and sees an apple sitting on top oftiny hands.

“This is for you,Moniwa-sensei,” he says shyly, pushing the fruit towards Moniwa.

Moniwa squealsinternally at how cute his pupil looks like right now, but it only translatedas a wide beam on his face. “This is kind of you, Yoshihiro-kun,” he praises,but not taking the fruit just yet. “But your mommy sent it for you. So youshould probably eat it.”

“I have my own, Moniwa-sensei.”He uses his free hand and duly points to his table, and Moniwa cranes his neckand sees a container with a row of bunny apple slices beside the bowls of thedaycare issued food that day. Moniwa almost smacks his forehead at his momentof idiocy. Of course a parent would not send an unpeeled and unsliced apple toa four year old child, no matter how independent Yoshihiro-kun acts, more sothan the other pupils in his class.

“Well, thank you forthis Yoshihiro-kun. Please tell your mommy that as well, alright?” Moniwa says,finally taking the apple and freeing Yoshihiro from the burden of holding itup. Moniwa thought he’s going to leave after that and return to his chair andcontinue eating his food. But Yoshihiro stays for a few moments more.

“But sensei, thatdidn’t come from Mommy. It’s from Waka-oji-chan. He asked me to give it to you.”He says, then quickly returns to his seat, leaving Moniwa quite shocked at whathe said.

—–

Everyone in Japan andtheir mother knows the pro-volleyball player Ushijima Wakatoshi. He’s beenpivotal in the National Team’s victory during the last World VolleyballChampionship.

He also happens to beYoshihiro-kun’s uncle.

He’d met him when hehad taken Yoshihiro to the child care center for a week, a few months ago, andMoniwa, still a fairly new teacher and having used to meeting Yoshihiro-kun’smother, Sakurako-san. He got star-struck and so intimidated that he spent thefirst few minutes of their meeting fumbling on his own words and being ablushing mess. He also mistakenly assumed that Ushijima-san was Yoshihiro-kun’sfather.

They really do lookalike, in Moniwa’s defense. For all of Ushijima-san’s seriousness was somehowinherited by Yoshihiro. The only exception was that Yoshihiro-kun still giveshis smiles easily than Ushijima-san. Moniwa also distinctly remembers the waywardthought of Ushijima-san being such a good looking young father, and howSakurako-san is lucky to be married to someone like him, and how he blushed andberated himself after entertaining such thoughts about a family man.

It was during hometime the week that followed, when it was Sakurako-san who turned up, instead ofUshijima-san, to fetch Yoshihiro, did he realized his mistake.

He was actuallysurprised (and not disappointed, no he wasn’t), and he tells her so, becauseUshijima-san was the one who brought him to school earlier that morning. Sakurako-santold him that she had to be away for an overseas business trip. Moniwa repliedthat it was still good, since it gave Yoshihiro-kun and his father time tobond.

Sakurako-san lookedconfused for a moment, before she bursts out in laughter, making Moniwa blushand self-conscious, and he started overthinking about what he said. He’s aboutto ask what it was that he said, when Sakurako-san clarifies that Ushijima-sanis her younger brother, and that he’s still painfully single.

This, of course,caused Moniwa to bow repeatedly in apology for mistaking the nature of theirrelationship. It’s shameful because he should’ve studied Yoshihiro-kun’s file,and he would’ve saved himself from embarrassment and looking incompetent infront of a parent. Of course, Sakurako-san’s well-meaning assurance that it’salright, did little to assuage his guilt.

The rest of the weekshad gone on a similar fashion, with Ushijima-san taking Yoshihiro-kun, whileSakurako-san fetch him in the afternoon. On the last day of school that month,Sakurako-san had looked at him funny, like she was trying to figure him out.She said a confusing ‘I think I understand now,’ before she and her son leftfor home.

That month had alsobeen the last time that Ushijima-san had taken Yoshihiro-kun to school. Moniwajust assumed that he’s busy preparing with his team for the upcomingtournaments. He thought he wouldn’t be seeing or hearing about him for a while.

Until now. And thesucceeding days after.

Moniwa thought thatthe apple would be a one-time thing. But something’s always out to prove himwrong, as Yoshihiro-kun had taken to giving him different snacks during breaktime. He kept saying that it’s from his Waka-oji.

He’s just a dotinguncle that’s probably just grateful to him, for taking care of Yoshihiro. But shouldn’tthat be Sakurako-san’s concern? Not that Moniwa wants to be receive gifts fromher instead, or to be given something in the first place, but really, what reasoncould Ushijima-san have for doing this?

Moniwa has to endurethe subtle teasing of his assistant about it. Shibayama-kun had actuallysuggested that Ushijima-san is probably courting him, by making his nephewdeliver things to him, just to ensure that Moniwa would accept it.

Moniwa doesn’t wantto give himself any false hopes. True, he had developed a crush on Ushijima-sanover the course of their meeting during the time he’d taken his pupil to thecenter. He’s admirable because he’s polite and gentle, despite his intimidatingappearance. He doesn’t seem arrogant despite being famous. And, the one thatMoniwa liked the most about him is how much he can feel that Ushijima-san likesand dotes on his nephew.

He’s patient withhim, and actually had seen him play along the child’s whim. He had seenUshijima-san carry Yoshihiro-kun on his shoulders as they leave school. He’dheard the uncle agree to his nephew’s request of getting ice cream on the wayhome. He never once flinched nor wince when Yoshihiro threw himself at him.

Moniwa, in layman’sterm, has it bad.

But, he refuses tobelieve that that is the meaning behind whatever he’s doing. It’s a laughablethought and there’s no way that that is reason why.

He tellsShibayama-kun as much.

—–

Moniwa slightly jumpsin surprise at his name being called in a deep voice. He turns around and findsUshijima-san standing by the entrance of his classroom.

It’s the first timehe sees him again after the past few weeks of receiving gifts that allegedly camefrom him. He instantly flushed at the thought of facing his ‘alleged admirer’.

“A-ahh, goodafternoon Ushiijima-san,” he bows in greeting. “You’re here to fetchYoshihiro-kun?”

“Good afternoon toyou as well, Moniwa-sensei. And yes. Onee-sama cannot make it because of work,so she asked me to do it.”

“Ahh, is that so?”Moniwa nods empathically. “I’ll just call for him in the playroom, alright?” Heexcused himself and hastily went to the playroom. He doesn’t call out toYoshihiro at first, opting to calm his nerves before he faces Ushijima-sanagain. When he feels ready enough, he called Yoshihiro’s attention and informedhim that his uncle is already here to fetch him.

The child, understandably,jumps up and quickly says his goodbye to the other children left and runs tohis teacher. When Moniwa returns with Yoshihiro, the child immediately jumps toUshijima’s arm with an excited squeal.

When Yoshihiro hascalmed down, he gets his things from his cubby box. Leaving his uncle andsensei alone.

“I hope you have beenliking the gifts,” Ushijima says, breaking the quiet that had enveloped them.Moniwa pause and looks at him confusedly before the assortment of gifts that hehad been receiving and promptly blushed.

“A-ah… yeah. Uh,thank you so much for those, Ushijima-san.” He bows his head, partly to expresshis thanks, and partly to hide his face. “But, they seem to be too much. Asimple thank you would be already very much appreciated. And it can also bewritten in the diary, if you-”

“They’re not thankyou gifts,” Ushijima cuts him off. Moniwa snaps his head up to look at Ushijimaand finds him staring intensely at him.

“Wh-what?”

“They…they’re forsomething else. I like you, Moniwa-sensei.” Ushijima says slowly, a littleredness creeping on his ears, his expression a mix between bashful and hopeful.

Moniwa’s mouth feelsdry all of a sudden and he’s afraid to ask for clarification. When Ushijimanotice that Moniwa is not reacting, his expression fell, taking Moniwa’s silenceas rejection.

“I apologize if myadvances had made you uncomfortable. It wouldn’t happen again.”

“No!” Moniwaexclaims. “Ah- I mean… It’s alright. I mean, I am not uncomfortable with it.But I guess, it’s better if you don’t ask Yoshihiro-kun to do it. Ah, I mean…you could just… ask me out or something…” His voice got steadily quieter as hesays this. Ushijima still hears it though, and so he formally asks, “Well… willyou go out on a date with me?”

Moniwa doesn’t trusthimself not to choke on his words, so he only nods his head in reply.

Both are unaware thatYoshihiro is watching them, thinking that he’s going to tell his Mom howOperation: Express Shipping was a success.

#haikyuu!!#ushimoni #hq fanfic #ushijima wakatoshi #moniwa kaname #haikyuu #onceabluemoonwrites

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go-redgirl · 5 years

Photo

Senator Who Employed Chinese Spy Endorses Joe Biden for President

A high-profile U.S. senator with professional and personal ties to China — including once employing one of its spies — is backing former Vice President Joe Biden amid mounting questions over his son’s business dealings with the communist regime.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), a former chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, announced her endorsement of the former vice president on Tuesday, claiming to have witnessed Biden’s “fortitude” and leadership during their overlapping tenures in Congress.

Feinstein said in a statement:

I’ve worked closely with Vice President Biden and I’ve seen firsthand his legislative ability, his statesmanship, and most importantly his moral fortitud. During his time in Congress and in the White House, Joe Biden has been a tireless fighter for hard working American families.

The endorsement comes as Biden’s presidential campaign is besieged by scandal regarding the lucrative business dealings his youngest son, Hunter, had with foreign governments.

Only hours before Feinstein’s endorsement, the Chinese government announced it would not investigate how Hunter Biden ended up at the center of one its top private equity firms. The Chinese foreign ministry made the decision after President Donald Trump publicly called for a probe of Hunter Biden’s dealings with Bohai Harvest RST (BHR). In particular, Trump has noted that the circumstances surrounding BHR’s creation could have posed a conflict of interest for Joe Biden.

As Peter Schweizer, senior contributor at Breitbart News, revealed in his bestselling book Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends, Hunter Biden inked the multibillion-dollar deal that created BHR with a subsidiary of the state-owned Bank of China in 2013.

The timing of the lucrative deal has been brought into question as it came only 12 days after Hunter visited China with his father aboard Air Force Two. Officially, the then-vice president was visiting the country amid escalating tensions over islands in the South China Sea and decided to bring his granddaughter and son along. In a March 2018 interview with Breitbart News Tonight, however, Schweizer detailed the political machinations that preceded Hunter Biden’s $1.5 billion venture with China:

In December of 2013, Vice President Joe Biden flies to Asia for a trip, and the centerpiece for that trip is a visit to Beijing, China. To put this into context, in 2013, the Chinese have just exerted air rights over the South Pacific, the South China Sea. They basically have said, ‘If you want to fly in this area, you have to get Chinese approval. We are claiming sovereignty over this territory.’ Highly controversial in Japan, in the Philippines, and in other countries. Joe Biden is supposed to be going there to confront the Chinese. Well, he gets widely criticized on that trip for going soft on China. For basically not challenging them, and Japan and other countries are quite upset about this.

Since its creation, BHR has invested heavily in energy and defense projects across the globe. As of June, Hunter Biden was still involved with BHR, sitting on its board of directors and owning a minority stake of the fund estimated to be worth more than $430,000.

Such dealings at the center of politics and business, while perhaps not illegal, are not exclusive to the Biden family alone. As a few noted at the time of Feinstein’s endorsement, the senator and her husband have their own close ties to the communist country.

During her tenure as mayor of San Francisco in the late-1970s and early-1980s, Feinstein took advantage of the newly normalized diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China by establishing one of the first sister city partnership between San Francisco and Shanghai. Through that partnership, Feinstein led trade delegations to China in which she and her husband, Richard Blum, became acquainted with some of the country’s most prominent political leaders.

As the Federalist noted in August 2018, Feinstein and her husband leveraged those relationships to boost their own wealth. In 1986, Feinstein and Jiang Zemin — the then-mayor of Shanghai, who would later ascend to the presidency of the People’s Republic of China — “designated several corporate entities for fostering commercial relations.” One of those firms was Shanghai Pacific Partners, which employed Blum as a director. Blum reportedly had an interest of upwards of $500,000 in a project backed by Shanghai Pacific Partners.

After Feinstein was elected to the Senate in 1992, Blum continued profiting off their ties to China. A the same time, the freshman lawmaker was pitching herself as a “China hand” to colleagues, even once claiming “that in my last life maybe I was Chinese.” Through her seat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Feinstein led the fight on a number of initiatives seen as being favorable to China, including granting the country permanent most-favored-nation trading status in 2000.

Despite Feinstein and her husband having a close relationship with Jiang, the Chinese government targeted the senator as part of its espionage operations. In the early 2000s, the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) recruited a longtime employee of the senator to gather information about the inner workings of her congressional and district offices. Feinstein only learned of the staffer’s duplicity in 2013, after he’d already been on her payroll for more than 20 years.

“While this person, who was a liaison to the local Chinese community, was fired, charges were never filed against him,” Politico reported in 2018, speculating that because “the staffer was providing political intelligence and not classified information—making prosecution far more difficult.”

Apart from the convoluted history of the senator’s ties to China, the political timing of Feinstein’s endorsement also caught many off guard. The California Democrat, who hosted a fundraiser on Biden’s behalf last week alongside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) daughter, is only the most recent figure from the Democrat establishment to openly pledge support for the former vice president. Feinstein’s endorsement, however, was not totally expected, especially since her seamate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), is mounting a bid of her own for the Democrat nomination. In fact, earlier this year, Feinsten flirted with the notion of remaining neutral in the 2020 contest out of respect for Harris.

Compounding the political picture is that most polls show Biden no longer the favorite to win California, having fallen behind Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

Feinstein, however, did not address any of that when endorsing the former vice president on Tuesday. Instead, the senator offered platitudes about Biden’s work to enhance gun control and how his campaign was a “fight to restore the soul of the nation.”

READ MORE STORIES ABOUT:

2020 Election National Security Politics 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary Bohai Harvest RST China Dianne Feinstein Hunter Biden Joe Biden Peter Schweizer Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends

_________________________________________________________

OPINION: Three ‘crooks’ in that picture above!

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chan-hii48-blog · 7 years

Text

personal rant #1.3

Third and last day report. ( ; - ; )

I am so not ready for this. I wasn’t feeling anything a while ago but as I write this now, I feel myself tearing up. The Japs have left and it kind of took something of me with them????

This morning I came across Ran and Mai when I got to school, and I simply greeted them and talked more about Japanese guy groups with Ran bcs I had like 10 secs to think of a topic before the first period bell rang.

So, yeah. They had a bit of dance practice a while ago and I didn’t really see them again until before recess, when we watched their basketball game.

Lmao it was awesome! The japs won and everyone was all sweaty because of the climate here and everyone was cheering for the all the players too :D

Also while my classmates kept fawning over the guys I was chillin’ with the gurls. Okay maybe I was just standing there thinking of what to talk about while the two of them watched the guys.

So I got my notebook and asked Ran to write her name. She giggled when she noticed Kazuma’s name on the same page, then I asked Mai for her twitter and her name too. They write beautifully ( T v T ).

We chatted a bit about anime (one of my close friends introduced me to the girls because I realized I haven’t even said my name to them yet lmao so I told them that close friend of mine likes anime so I can strike a convo) and prefectures (theyre all from Aichi. YUS. I LOVE~ A~~I~~CHI~~~) and how I loved kansai-ben like I went NANDEYANEEENN and they giggled (ouh mah gei hart esploded)

AND AFTER THAT it was bye bye. ( , __ . ) Or so I thought. When we had Art Class, I ran into them all in our class corridor getting ready to go aND I DIDNT SEE THE GIRLS ANYWHERE SO I WENT TO THE CR AND BOOM I FOUND RAN (I KNOW ITS CREEPY IM SORRY I WANTED TO SEE THEM ONE LAST TIME) FIXING HER HAIR IN FRONT OF THE MIRROR . Mai was most likely changing in a stall.

I groaned, asking them if they really were going, and Ran said yes with a pout. I was like ( Q _ Q ) but then she called my attention and said in full Japanese, “Please, make sure you’ll visit Japan someday.” I nearly cried, oh my frick. She went out of the room to get her stuff right after I saw Mai come out of the stall, and I wished her a safe trip too.

I got to hug Mai before she left (DO U HEAR MY GAY HEART SOBBING) and I went back to class (albeit nearly late lol).

I was sad for the next few periods. Everyone else was. We all got too used to their presence for the last few days and it just felt sad without them.

But yes. Eventually, I started having high spirits again, even higher than I’ve ever had. This experience had really impacted me. It helped me boost my confidence more in my Japanese language knowledge and my confidence in opening up and interacting with people. I was known to be that one quiet one who barely talks to people, but now, in a way, I feel different. I feel a whole lot happier, and I actually feel like I can happily talk with anyone now. And heck, for the first time in a while, I actually listened to Math class.

I’ll definitely cherish this moment for as long as I live. I have no regrets for my last year of encountering Japanese Exchange Students in this school.

> And that’s the end of my report. I’ll still post some personal rants every now and then whenever I feel like it so yeaaaah. XD Thanks a lot if you read this far.

sadly i couldnt take pics with them, but you know what? It’s my memories with them that matters anyway ( ; V ; ) im so cheesy im die.

ALSO KAZUMA WAS SO AWESOME PLAYING BASKETBALL A WHILE AGO YOU GO BOI

#personaru u w u

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blacknovelist · 7 years

Text

A Place to Be - BNHA Fic (Ch. 2)

Yeah, so, I’m still here. But before anyone asks why I took so long, the reason is I decided I wanted to finish writing all the chapters before I updated. Which also means that yes, this fic is technically finished! Except for the epilogue, but let’s call that technicalities and move on. I’ll be posting once a day until it’s finished (I’d like to go over the two last chapters since I only just did ‘em), so it shouldn’t take longer than half a week at this rate. This chapter was hard tho since it’s like, the bridge between the first chapter and the stuff I actually wanted to write? Honestly, I’m still not sure how I feel about the way I wrote Hisashi, haha. In the end, the plot i went with was different from the original plot I mapped out (as fond as I was of it), so I had to make quite a few changes.

This is for all you guys going into the reviews and yelling at me to come back and finish this already. ;D

Thank you @curiousbluepencil for helping me out with the first draft, and thanks @guardianlioness for being the wonderful enabler you always are with fics and Dad Might (and for reading over this chapter and the next one too, ahaha)

I did make some changes to the first chapter, mostly towards the end, so you should maybe read it first!! If you haven't already, that is.

[AO3] [ffnet]

[Ch. 1] [Ch. 2] [Ch. 3] [Ch. 4] [Epilogue]

Chapter 2: Event Horizon

A point of no return.

It all started with a knock on the door.

Memories of a surprise cleaning inspection from Aizawa sprang to mind, and everyone flew into panic as Toshinori went to answer it. Iida gathered all the dishes and passed them to Uraraka, who lightly hurled them into the sink where Shouji got to work; Sero yanked a stray rubber chicken off one of the light fixtures while Kaminari and Mineta swept up abandoned papers; Tokoyami and Dark Shadow quickly shoved stray chairs back into order at the table; the rest got out of the way and tried to act as natural as possible.

As a result, when the door swung open to reveal a rather unassuming and unfamiliar man rather than their homeroom teacher, the only thing approaching out of place in the dorm was the duo sitting upside-down on the couches playing video games.

“Why, good afternoon!” The stranger beamed. He bowed, almost too deep for his casual greeting. “I, ah, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Midoriya Hisashi. My son is a student here, and since I’m back in Japan for a bit I thought I should drop by, maybe take a look at the school while I’m at it. I was told he is living here right now?”

Toshinori did an admirable job of repressing his own shock and covering the way Class 1-A collectively froze by returning the bow and replying, in entirely too loud and exuberant a voice, “Hello, Midoriya-san!” Stepping towards his students to allow the man in, he eyed the jacket slung over Hisashi’s arm and the papers sticking out of the pocket. “My name is To- ahem, Yagi Toshinori. You likely knew me as All Might previously but please, call me Yagi. It’s nice to meet you as well.”

“Thank you, Yagi-san.” The smile on Hisashi’s face didn’t change as he came in, shed his shoes, and bowed again. “I apologize for my sudden appearance today, but I was hoping to be a surprise and to perhaps learn a little bit more about what my son’s life at UA is like. I hope that isn’t a problem.”

“Not at all!”

The class shared a look. Towards the back of the room, Kirishima and Iida barely managed to catch Izuku before his legs gave out completely.

Izuku wasn’t really sure how he was supposed to feel about all this.

Lgoically, he knew he should feel something. Anger, maybe, or sadness. Possibly even joy? But as the man claiming to be his father bustled towards him, all he could really muster was unease, confusion, and a deep instinctive wariness honed through a single year of hero training. The “why?"s and "what for?"s piled up, the cumulation of years spent wondering and wondering and wondering. He struggled to breathe normally past the thud of his heart in his throat, and his head felt like it was going to burst.

But there were no tears as Hisashi came to him, no heartfelt reunion hugs, no heavy explanations and promises to try better - there’s just two hands on his shoulders, a brief hug, a glance at his face and a strategic turn to his classmates.

"I’m only here for the afternoon, I’m afraid. It’s not much, but it should ample time to get to know about the school life,” he’d said earlier, a knowing smile on his face. “I’ll give you some time. Don’t worry, my son. Go.”

Izuku was all too ready to take the escape offered and stay out of the way for as long as he could. His friends and Toshinori ‘distracted’ Hisashi until he was ready to come out, and he made a note to treat them later as thanks.

Still, this was something he’d been waiting years for, and Izuku was nothing if not opportunistic when he wanted to be. So, the time not spent thinking was used watching as the man hovered over shoulders like it was his sworn duty, and slowly but surely Izuku’s mental notebook filled with details about his father that he hadn’t gotten from his mother before.

A handful of things Izuku matched up with his own, like the way Hisashi mumbled observations and ideas, fiddled with his hands, had the faintest collection of freckles over his nose, and liked holding his bottom lip whenever deep in thought. A few traits were entirely Hisashi’s own, like the fact that he seemed to have no filter but enough tact to either stop talking or apologize, liked jogging or biking in his free time, and was blindingly good at talking to people.

While interesting, it didn’t really help Izuku get to know his father as a person. Hisashi was a silver tongue - though he seemed to get along with most of the class, questions about his job or hobbies were answered vaguely (what was so special about “fiddle names”? They’d probably never know), and he refused to elaborate on his vanishing act past “business trips”. The deeper questions piled up in Izuku’s head were given the promise of “in private” and “I’ll explain later”, when Izuku finally got the chance to talk to him about it. If he didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought the man had only been gone a few months or a couple years.

“Maybe he isn’t sure how to deal with the fact that he’s here now, so he’s acting like nothing’s changed,” Kaminari suggested after overhearing Izuku’s thoughts. He’d made his escape from Hisashi’s endless curiosity when the man had been distracted by Sato. “I’m pretty sure it’s a psychology thing. He’ll talk to you properly and figure it out eventually.”

“I hope he figures it out soon, because the fact that he keeps talking to us instead of you is getting kind of awkward,” Jirou said, frowning. “ Kouda disappeared the moment your dad turned his way. Bakugou and Todoroki have this look on their faces. Everyone knows why Bakugou’s like that, but nobody wants to find out why Todoroki of all people looks like that too. I don’t know how much more we can take of this.”

The end result was that, by the time Toshinori ushered them towards the gym to meet with Aizawa again, all they knew about Midoriya Hisashi was that he liked ramen, jumped from subject to subject like a gold medalist, and a half dozen other arbitrary details no one knew what to do with. Izuku couldn’t help glancing back at him as they walked, mind still swirling with everything he hadn’t been able to ask earlier.

He wondered if he really wanted to know the answers anymore.

Three hours, six explanations and two-and-a-half battlefield shouting matches later, class 1-A finally dragged themselves back out into the world. Though Aizawa had left them under Toshinori’s supervision an hour ago to finish “important” paperwork, the constant questions and requests for demonstrations lobbed at them had kept them until the sun streaked the clouds and sky a myriad of dusty dark blues and rapidly fading orange-pinks.

“That was incredibly enlightening,” Hisashi said, appearing just as chipper as when he walked through the heights alliance doors earlier. His lips curled into a grin like he’d solved some incredible puzzle that had been plaguing him the whole week.

He lingered towards the back with Izuku as Toshinori pushed forwards to check on the others, waited as the teacher passed his son with a silent question and a bobbed head, and stepped closer.

“Izuku.” Hisashi watched as Izuku leapt a foot into the air, delirious training mumbles interrupted, and couldn’t hide his chuckles. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. But I was wondering if I could talk to you before we head back.”

Izuku hesitated, tried and failed to ignore the sweat seeping into his shirt, the dull burn of a long workout in his bones, the hesitation. “Not right now. It shouldn’t take long to go back and change,” he said in lieu of the no on his tongue. “Let me run back with everyone to drop my stuff off.”

“I won’t keep you forever. It’s already late, I need to get going soon.”

“Can you just tell me on the way instead? I’d rather not stay in these clothes any longer than I have to.”

“It’s important, yes, but it’s also private,” Hisashi said, a frown making itself known. When he took a step, Izuku matched it with two more. “Come on, my son. I promise it won’t take long at all.”

Neither noticed that they’d stopped walking, that the rest of them were waiting and watching.

“Well, I-”

“Midoriya-san,” Iida spoke up. “I personally assure you it won’t take long at all for us to return to the dorms and make ourselves more presentable, and none of us would dare think of invading your privacy by listening in on your conversation if you chose to speak to him on our way. If you have any concerns you need to share with your son, please don’t let us be in your way!”

Jirou coughed, and nodded.

Uraraka gave a light laugh. “Besides, I bet Deku’s feeling as dead on his feet as we are!”

Hisashi’s frown deepened. “It’s partially my fault for losing track of time, I suppose.” He nodded. “But I’m already pushing my schedule by still being here. I know what a workout feels like, thank you. I’m sure you want to rest and I’m sorry, but this is urgent.”

“Why not come back another day, even just for a bit?” Izuku’s brow furrowed. “If… if it’s that important you tell me this, I mean. I know you’re busy and that’s why you could only spare an afternoon, but I don’t even know if I can stay on my feet for much longer. Better to pay more attention if I need to hear it, right? Or you could call, while you’re still in Japan-”

“It really won’t take so long, and it’s too important for a phone call,” Hisashi bit out. They were all too tired for this back and forth arguing, really. “It can’t wait, so-”

“Hey, you and shitty Deku aren’t the only ones who need to be going somewhere, you know!” Bakugou snarled.

“Curfew will begin soon, and if we need to be out after that with reason, we’re required to stick together,” Todoroki said. A bold-faced lie. “At that point, we wouldn’t really have a choice about privacy. Either tell him on the way, or tell him at the dorms.”

“I don’t have time, and we’re already wasting more of it talking about this.” He stormed forward, and the class surged.

“You’re the one insisting on running off when we could have finished back home already-”

“If you could just reconsider-”

“Midoriya obviously doesn’t want to talk to you right now-”

“You might be his father, but he doesn’t have to go anywhere-”

“Take a hint, you-”

Sparks built up between his teeth, tickling his gums. “He’s my son,” Hisashi snapped. “And I can ask him to talk to me if I want him to, so back off!”

All but one froze at the flames that sprouted from his lips. It chased the dark and chill of night away for only a moment, leaving nothing but moonlight to illuminate the surprised faces of Hisashi Midoriya and Class 1-A.

#boku no hero academia #bnha #my hero academia #mha #bnha fic #blacknovelist writes #dorm life series #team 1a #toshinori #hisashi midoriya #anywayy im gonna spend the next half a day distracting myself from noticing all my glaring mistakes and resisting the urge to post everythi #its a good thing i've got homework i need to do anyway ahaha #tho if there are any actual mistakes/problems w this please let me know #ksjfd;ljsaf i hit post on ao3 before i was emotionally ready so here i go

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ao-gaijin · 7 years

Text

A Semi-Brief Summary of the First Few Days

No. Please don’t look away. I know I’m late...believe me I know. This week’s post is catch up time, but a 2-parter! (I don’t have time to sit down and recall 19 days unfortunately. Also don’t think everyone wants to read that much at once.)

ANYWAYS!

I arrived at Narita International Airport on March 23rd at 1:30ish pm.

Coming in hot!

Uhhhh... Okay that’s not what I meant.

What I meant was, I walked off the plane with a headcold and forehead hot! Thanks Singapore! (No not really their fault. The staff was really nice and gave me chocolate and ice cream :D. Also economy class fish that was questionable...<.< ....>.> )

So yea, big welcoming to Japan. I came off the plane with as much toilet paper as I could steal the airline could provide from the plane’s bathroom; much of it hanging out of my SDSU hoodie’s center pocket.

After getting through a surprisingly simple customs check, We were officially into Japan. YAAAASS

Post-Arrival Picture (Smiling when feeling miserable is awesome!)

Shortly after entering the general terminal, Hy, Colin, and I were interviewed by some Japanese television show! They asked a series of questions regarding why we were in Japan that day. I have no idea if it aired ‘[0_0]/.

If you don’t know me that well, I breathe Spongebob references ^^

Post-airport: 2-hour bus ride to Tokyo ( Which I of course KO’d on), a train, and then another bus. All in the rain! We finally crashed at the guest room we were staying. I proceeded to shower and immediately fall unconscious into the bed at around 6pm. But wait! I must have missed something very important in the bathroom!?

That’s right, this:

youtube

BREAKFAST. This about sums it up:

Colin, not me. But I had the exact same feeling! One of the best breakfasts ever. You can read about the food on the food page.

GEEK/OTAKU TOWN! I mean... Akihabara the Electric City!

It was everything I could have dreamt of in a place! The lights, the electronics, the cafes, the pretty maid girls advertising, the most tourists in a condensed area, the anime/manga, the pretty maid girls ^-^...all great...except

We ended up spending a majority of our time in this place:

Something like 9 Costco sized floors consisting of anything running on that sweet electric juice. And of those 9 floors, a good 1.5-2 hours was spent on the stereo/headphone floor. I was debating on a Bluetooth speaker while Colin and Hy spent too much time trying out headphones. In the end we all walked away from that floor empty handed, because like Amazon price comparison, y’know?

MEIJI SHRINE

First shrine visit of the trip, and a pretty neat one at that. (Credit to Taka who was taking this photo. You da’ man!)

I wrote an Ema (basically a wish to be granted), AND the more money I put in the envelope = more likely to be granted!

ME:

ALSO ME:

As we are exiting the shrine, our shadows were growing taller as the sun set behind us. You know what that means? Time to search for food!

SHIBUYA

What better place to grab dinner than the busy area of Shibuya, Tokyo! - everyone in Shibuya, 2017

And so, I experienced my first izakaya with all my pals! This of course after wandering for awhile, and our local friend convinced to go to another izakaya by an “employee” that was of different name, but equal quality. This guy was dressed in a straight up brown trench coat and a walkie at his side, sketchy as @&%$, but alright bud...sure. Our friend instead lead us to another location of same name and equal quality!

A wonderful way to end the night. The following morning we packed up and went our separate ways to move into our different dorms. I will save the rest for next week.

So thanks for letting me get my shit together a little bit. Apologies for being so behind.

#rick&morty

Sneak Peek:

Let me guess, you’re ready for part 2 now, aren’t ya?!

#japan #rikkyo university #tokyo #weekly post #getting lost

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impracticaldemon · 7 years

Link

Bonus Prompt for January 31: AU (Alternate Universe)

Available at ff.net above or below under the image.

Chapter 1—Gajeel of the Shinsengumi

She couldn't remember having a name other than Levy, and nobody called her that anyway. The first part wasn't especially surprising, since under the laws of the Shogun, Lord Iemochi Tokugawa, only members of the samurai class were allowed to use a surname. The second part was also simply explained: the family that housed her, and more or less fed her, found the name 'Levy' too foreign for either safety or convenience; instead, they called her Aoi, meaning blue, which was the colour of her hair.

Levy remembered the day that her father had brought her to the Ikedaya, a mediocre inn found in the central part of the vast city of Kyoto. She didn't know his name, because to her he had just been otosan,(1) but she wished he hadn't left her in this place. He was the only person she'd ever known with hair like hers. Of course, he was probably dead now. It had been a dozen years since he had gone out to meet some friends and never come back. Ikeda-san was now the master of the house, instead of merely the heir. Levy didn't like him much, but fortunately his mother was still alive and she had been the one to insist on keeping the girl in the first place. It was assumed that Levy’s father had been swallowed up by the dangerous streets of Kyoto like so many others.

The day had started out like many others: she'd gotten up before dawn, started the cooking fire, and taken her mistress her morning tea. At this point, Ikeda Keiko-san was the one person Levy cared about in the household. Keiko-san had been kind to Levy when her father hadn't returned, and the only member of the family to return the tentative embraces of an affectionate child. There was a lot of gray in the woman's hair now, but otherwise she wasn't much changed. She had been stoic when her husband had died, but Levy thought that she was rather lonely, and didn't approve much of her son's friends. However, apart from refusing to be parted from Levy, she had acquiesced to all of her son's orders: after all, he was a man and the head of the family.

"We have special guests arriving today, Aoi-chan," Keiko remarked as she sipped her tea. "At least, my son thinks they are special, so he will want to have extra food and drink on-hand."

"Yes, Keiko-san."

"I will be down to help you shortly. After breakfast has been cooked and served, we will go shopping."

"Yes, Keiko-san."

The day had progressed accordingly, although the shopping trip had been more extensive than usual. As Levy had gotten older, she had learned that tying her hair back into a severe ponytail minimized the odd colour. Nevertheless, on a sunny day like today, she drew curious looks from those who didn't recognize her as the Ikeda's servant-girl. Lately, she'd also been subjected to the occasional nasty comment from the inn's patrons, who assumed that her parents must have been foreigners. Anti-foreigner sentiment had risen sharply in Japan since the Americans had forced the Japanese to trade with them more or less at gun-point about ten years earlier.

As Keiko-san had predicted, men arrived at the inn throughout the afternoon and early evening, many showing signs of wanting to avoid notice. The master himself stood at the door turning away the occasional potential client who wasn't part of the group of grim-faced men currently assembling in the inn's main rooms. It didn't take long for Levy to notice that all of the men were armed. She did her best to ignore the ongoing conversations while she silently served sake and brought out trays of food. Keiko-san had also insisted that she cover her hair that evening, and Ikeda-san had growled his approval of the precaution. Apparently his so-called friends were members of a particularly militant faction intent on ejecting all foreigners from Japan.

By ten o'clock, the meeting was in full swing, the rumble of male voices clearly audible to Levy, who had been sent to bed by Keiko-san once dinner had been served and cleared and the kitchen had been tidied. Levy slept in the storage pantry adjoining the kitchen, which suited her, as it allowed her to slip out the back door into the garden whenever she couldn't sleep at night.

Tonight she sat on top of her futon, still fully dressed and alert. She'd been increasingly twitchy all evening, and even the placid Keiko-san had told her to keep a knife by her pillow that night, in case one of the men decided to find out what other services the inn's serving girl might provide.

The first intimation of disaster was when the front door was flung open with a force that splintered the wood and a powerful voice called out:

"I am Commander Kondō Isami of the Shinsengumi. You are all under arrest for conspiracy! Those who do not surrender will be killed."

It wasn't so much a hint of things to come as a declaration of war. The Shinsengumi were Kyoto's ruthless, Shogun-backed police force. The known facts about them were bad, and the rumours were worse. More importantly, in the present situation, they were fierce enemies of the men gathered at the Ikedaya that evening. Levy didn't fully understand it, but she'd learned enough in the last year or so to know what while everyone said they wanted the foreigners out of Japan, there were some who felt that the Shogun should return full executive and military power back to the Emperor in order to accomplish this goal.

As the inn exploded with the clash of swords and the screams of men, Levy realized that her master's friends were part of this anti-Shogun group, and were under attack by one of the most dangerous quasi-military units in Kyoto. She stole noiselessly into the kitchen and peered out the back window, just in time to see figures in the unmistakeable light-blue coats of the Shinsengumi take up guard positions around the back of the inn.

"Bloody fucking hell." Levy had learned a number of words from the inn's patrons that she didn't use around Keiko-san.

She wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. She'd heard that the Shinsengumi could be just as ruthless with women as with men when it came to those who collaborated with the anti-Shogun forces. An undersized seventeen-year-old girl, who looked like a foreigner (supposedly), would be in considerable danger around such men. In fact, she could be in danger from either side, since the rebels wouldn't necessarily want her around to identify them.

After a short debate with herself, she placed her right index finger on the palm of her left hand. With a last nervous glance at the door, because the noise of battle was growing closer to the back areas of the inn, Levy traced the word light onto her skin. It was one of the very few things she had been taught to write as a young child, and of course she had been taught almost nothing as a servant. Keiko-san had shown her how to recognize a few basic words, but not how to form them. She'd never shown the Ikeda family her magic writing, of course—somebody, maybe her father, had drilled absolute secrecy into her well before the ill-fated trip to Kyoto.

Just then, she heard the sound of feet running toward the kitchen. Levy quickly opened the sliding door to the pantry a crack, and confirmed that it was Keiko-san, with tears glimmering on her face. Before she could hurry out to help the older woman, who was panting heavily, there was a crash and a scream. A massive figure wearing Shinsengumi blue had exploded out of the short passage behind Levy's mistress, and felled her to the floor with a single, punishing blow.

Heedless of her own safety, Levy dashed out of the pantry, knife raised.

"You bastard! Shinsengumi dog! She's just an old woman—leave her alone!"

Almost unconsciously, she flung out her left hand, and her passionate wish gave power to the flickering word traced on her palm. There was a flash of actinic light—much brighter than anything produced by human technology—and the intruder staggered back slightly, flinging an arm over his eyes.

"What the hell, you little bitch!"

Seen in the sudden flare of illumination, the intruder was even bigger than Levy had thought, his rough mane of black hair barely contained by his high ponytail and iron-reinforced headguard. His katana shone with wet blood and his jacket and loose trousers were liberally spattered with gore.

Realizing in despair that the police officer filled the whole doorway, Levy gave up any hope of escaping the kitchen and dropped to her knees beside Keiko-san, who was motionless and bleeding from her mouth and nose. Abandoning her knife without a second thought, Levy frantically dabbed at the blood and tried to rouse her mistress.

"Keiko-san! Keiko-san, wake up!"

To her surprise, the woman's eyes started to flutter open. "Aoi?" she whispered, in a thread of a voice.

Just then, Levy felt a massive hand close around her wrist. A moment later, she was yanked upward until her feet dangled several inches off the floor. The officer was holding her level with his eyes, and Levy almost blacked out from the wrenching pain in her left arm. The light was fading quickly, now, as it usually did, but there was more than enough to see that her captor's eyes were a sparkling, ruby red.

"What is your name, girl? Aoi? Is that it?"

"Yes… yes it is…" Levy could feel her determination slipping away from her to be replaced by fear. Her life might not be wonderful, but she didn't want to die just because the inn's owner was a rebel.

The man gave her a little shake, and she whimpered.

"Try again, kid—what's your name?"

Confused and overwhelmed, Levy blurted: "Levy. I'm Levy. B-but nobody calls me that."

She was set on her feet as suddenly as she'd been picked up. Her left wrist was numb with little shooting sparks of pain, and her whole arm ached desperately. She cradled it against her chest.

"Levy, huh." The Shinsengumi officer seemed to be thinking hard. Even stranger, he said her name perfectly, the way she remembered her father saying it. "That's… very interesting."

Levy crouched beside Keiko-san, who still seemed to be breathing.

"We weren't part of whatever was going on," she said, successfully keeping a whimper out of her voice.

The strange red eyes narrowed.

"No, huh?" The man had sheathed his sword and folded his arms over his chest. "Maybe you weren't. But that woman came between me an' the guy who owns this place; almost got me hurt. That makes her guilty, no matter what."

"But Ikeda-san is her son," Levy retorted indignantly. "Of course she tried to protect him!"

"Levy-chan? Doesn't matter at this point, done is done. If she's still alive when we clean up, then she goes to jail with her son. You too. If you're still here that is."

"Huh?"

Levy stared at him. He'd come into the room in a murderous rage, and almost killed a harmless older woman. He was the scariest man she had ever seen, bar none. But it sounded like he might let her go.

"Not gonna say it twice, kid. Hope it works out for you and… I'll find you later, if you make it." He turned on his heel and started to walk out.

"Wait!" Levy called after him.

He didn't look back, but he stopped.

"What? I've got bad guys to catch."

"Your name. What's your name?" Was she crazy? Why did she care?

"Hmm. Well, the Shinsengumi call me Tani Mantarō. But you can call me Gajeel—if I we meet up again."

Levy suddenly had a thousand questions for Gajeel-san. Unfortunately, he was gone before she could even open her mouth, and she had an escape to plan. With a sigh, she gently squeezed the hand of Keiko-san, who was unconscious again.

"Thank you for everything, Keiko-san. I hope you live and I can help you some day."

It took her less than two minutes to put together a small bag with her meager possessions. Then she slid out the back window and disappeared into the night.

[END]

A/Note:

(1) Otosan = "dad"

Yes, I have a fascination with the Shinsengumi and late Edo Japan. I also have an inability to write short, fully stand-alone stories (though I've managed a few). I hope you enjoyed this story. Reviews and comments (and reblogs!) would be *greatly* appreciated. Also, would you be interested in a sequel chapter?

~ Impracticaldemon (^u^)

#gajevy #fanfiction #gajevyweek #impracticaldemon #bonus prompt #prompt au #alternate universe

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driftwork · 4 years

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12 months more or less, it had gone like this...(a london story appendix 9)

The woman boarded the flight to London from a German airport, everything had begun in Tokyo and she had spent the last eight days in Switzerland (Zurich) and Germany (Frankfurt Au Main). The woman was sure that neither her sister nor the man had traveled to any of these cities, as far as she knew they had scarcely left the locality they lived in. Little real information of their activities was available, living in open sight they were almost invisible. This is scarcely important however in this story of a person traveling from Tokyo to see her sister and to ask for some of the money she'd taken back, and for her to do some work for them, to ensure that peace continued. It's a morning in May, a lovely day which is like summer. Which is a sublime detail as the photons fall from the sun making the sky a pale blue colour which is of some importance to her and the bodyguards. But where to start ? Why not at the beginning of the end with the woman boarding her flight to London [...]

It was better to travel from Frankfurt to London she thought because what mattered was her long trajectory from Tokyo to London and now it was here a final direct flight into the city. The flight took about two hours and they arrived at around three to three thirty in the afternoon. So here they are sitting in business class, she occupying two seats whilst they sat comfortably close - the trip had been booked by her secretary and she'd done a good job. The flight attendants were courteous and unobtrusive. She drank clear fruit tea, and a light snack. She is in her mid to late thirties, quite tall, dark hair, thin and healthy looking. Though you couldn't tell because she is dressed in linen trousers and jacket over a silk blouse, she has a single headed dragon tattoo on her body. (Her sister has a double headed dragon on her body) The attendants imagined that she was a business woman accompanied by her assistants, perhaps a senior manager of a multinational corporation, an anonymous business woman who spends her life generating economic growth for the corporation. But of course, one of them said, she could be a politician flying into London to attend cabinet level meetings with foreign office officials. (You are so romantic the others said....) She fell asleep in her comfortable business class seat, dreaming of a child and a partner who was looking after her, she imagined him taking her to school, eating ice-cream with her at the municipal park, perhaps chatting with the other parents. He was enabling something close to normal life for a child she knew. In her half asleep state she looked more obviously muscled, less elegant more obviously signs of her working out. As she woke up she stretched and then looked at her agenda of meetings with two sets of nervous hedge fund managers. She looked at the newspaper and its color supplements that the attendant had given her. She looked through the business section, read the micro-paragraph stories that were on the front pages, twenty five words each story with small photos or charts. She ended up looking at the magazine section which contained some photos by Gary Winograd and a thermonuclear bomb mushroom cloud. Some of her distant relations had been vaporized by the bomb at Nagasaki she remembered, feeling a little saddened about this event that was probably why she was sitting on this plane descending towards London. She remembered her friend Aldico who had died last year in a car accident, he'd crashed into the back of a lorry whilst desperately trying to escape from his pursuers. She wondered at the trail of destruction left behind by the growth of value. It was peculiar how value had a relationship of equivalence with death. She sighed closing the magazine and noticed a reference in the business section, a recommendation for Kwarbarti's IPO shares. She wondered about this. Her heart briefly raced, she hadn't really had an arrhythmic heartbeat for over a year. After testing he doctors had told here it was caused by stress, which for some reason she no longer seemed to suffer from. She had seen many images of violence, even some real ones, none had caused her to feel stressed since last year. The co-pilot announced they were coming into land and they should look out over the city and enjoy the view. The plane curved round to the right at around 700 feet a tall skyscraper could be seen out of the windows just below them. The buildings and ground of the city dull and mechanical below them, a few small parks. The plane dived in towards the city airport. Wheels down, flaps down, engines reversed, air brakes. She looked at the photographs of one of the anonymous global meetings of the richest people and countries in the world, thinking there was no difference any longer every photo was edged in gold. She turned the page and looked at a picture of a young half naked man being casually tortured. She closed the magazine and put it aside [...]

They landed, taking the hand luggage, collecting the luggage off the conveyer belt speaking to the immigration and customs officers about why she had come. There was a chauffeur waiting with a sign (single dragon head industries - Ms Seo) to take them from the airport to the hotel. [They had arrived] The car was hot from the afternoon sun. He turned on the air conditioning for them. The younger bodyguard sits in the front with the driver.The older next to her on the passenger side. It was a slow trip skirting the city of London, across the top of the congestion charge zone and down past the park to the hotel. The hotel had two restaurants, one cafe, a pool and gymnasium, room service, secure internet, twenty four hour laundry service (which she used), themed suites and rooms, she had ordered a neutral suite with light grey walls, wooden floors and rugs. She didn't know what their rooms were like, one on each side of her suite. The hotel was mostly full of business travelers who seemed to be always busily going somewhere or other. In the hotel in the evening she would talk to her dark suited bodyguards about the hedge fund and venture capitalist people who she was scheduled to meet the next day and about their nervousness whenever she turned up, they were drinking Mohitos in the terrace bar, before she retired to the suite. . Is that why you always schedule at least a day? The older of the two bodyguards asked. Yes with enough time they relax and begin to speak. She asked them if they had found the investment trip interesting {more than I thought it would be}. The rest of this week, after tomorrow is a board meeting at the london office and the meeting with my sister [///] They ate light food in the restaurant, the older body guard checked the security of the hotel and booked a room for the meal tomorrow night. (There was a blue plaque saying that Rebecca West and James Joyce had stayed here.) In the cafe she ate some ice cream whilst reading some papers that had been delivered to the hotel for her inspection. Over the dual carriageway there was a large park, mature trees all along the roadside with green open spaces beyond it, there were people playing an unidentifiable ball game directly opposite her. A variant of baseball she thought. The city had a long history, a thousand years or more, this section had been villages before the expansion caused by the industrial revolution. The younger bodyguard was checking the road map for routes to the hedge fund offices, they could pass through the centre of town or travel a little to the south and along the embankment. He chose the second route along the embankment. He remembered the pleasantness of driving through the park to the river. [...]

She went upstairs and puts on a TV weather channel that is dedicated to meterology, it informs her that the weather is going to be dry and warm, maximum temperature of 23 and lows of 12, humidity at acceptably low levels high pollen. Good weather for meetings in the city and perhaps some al fresco dining at lunchtime. Though this would make her bodyguards nervous so perhaps they wouldn't allow her to sit outside enjoying the sun and would force her to go somewhere more secure. And makes some phone calls to Japan, to talk to D, she would speak to her daughter in the morning before leaving the hotel. She turned {off} the air conditioning down to a low murmur and opened the window onto the balcony to feel the warm polluted air of the city and listen to the traffic noise. There was an endless stream of traffic passing by below, nine to eleven floors below. Slightly bored, wishing the week was over and she was going home she waited waited waited until the door beeped and the hotel staff asked if she needed anything. She said no to the face on the screen, her left hand holding a knife. After a while she changed and taking one of the bodyguards with her went for a walk around the locality, walking out of one of the west side entrances along the side road and breaking into a gentle run through the streets, running round the first square, along a side road into another square and round that one, northwards, then westwards into the park at the top corner. As they ran side by side, looking alarmingly like a couple to the unobservant eyes, whilst others might notice the chaotic nature of the glide through the city. Along the canal footpath, pace pace pace, they passed a pair of black funeral barges, on the leading barge there were two oak coffins draped with white and purple lilles, inside a glass cabin. On the second barge mourners dressed in a black and dark grey were exchanging pleasantries and watched them run past. They stopped at the tunnel and went up the steps and ran over the road through the park back towards the hotel. They ran the last two or three hundred metres at a slower pace. She felt lighter, as if the potential situations of the past eight days had dissipated as soon as she had arrived in this city. She walked into the hotel, feeling calmer, some half remembered piano piece came into her mind and she felt she could almost play the notes. She waited for the second lift, she didn't want to step into a shared space in case it ruined her mood. She was following an old memory of the days when she was not at risk, when she was almost invisible, she knew that this would never return. She was hoping for a holiday after this, just being able to spend some time with D and her daughter. It was after this trip to london, or perhaps it was the next one, that she came to realize, ironically, that she would always be safer here than anywhere else, that the close security people should just be people to talk too as the invisible people on the periphery of her perception were her actual protection [...] The two mohitos she drank were perfect, she had espresso and had orange sorbet for the desert [...] She followed the bodyguards and the chauffeur to the car in the morning, wearing a dark suit, comfortable low heeled shoes. The arrived at the office with its discreet glass and wood doors, backed by brushed steel. They opened inwards. There were two receptionists who handed them passes and sent them to the top floor. Outside the corridor was a small rooftop garden, a pair of beehives and some beds of small bushes, herbs and some seats. They were directed into the meeting room. The meeting room was shielded from the sunlight by shades, two or three other other people came in and sat down. The introductions began. The old man at the head of the table moved with difficultly, slightly arthritic hands she decided, his grey hair hanging down almost to his shoulders. She looked around the table. Introduce yourselves she instructed them. In the morning they reported progress, a few losses and gains. Nothing very different than she expected, she had explicitly instructed them to maintain a conservative to medium risk profile. So it would be like this, for no other report would have been accepted, other conclusions were possible, some even plausible, but as they were reporting well she knew she would be giving them some capital for higher risk investments that would be carefully monitored [...] It was later at lunch time, sitting outside in the roof garden, when the old man, his secretary and the director she normally dealt with were talking about the rest of her week, that she mentioned Kwarbarti, he said do you want to invest in them? They are preparing for IPO at the moment. (We/I) cannot invest there. They look surprised at how emphatic she is. He asks why, she explains that the Director of Security is her sister and its because of family reasons. The old man said wasn't the IPO delayed before? Yes, the Director of security, insisted they delay the IPO after she moved to the UK. I've met her a few times, she is quite intense, rumor has it that she owns a huge part of the company. You've met my sister, she says to him that is a surprise. Last time I was meeting with the CEO and we were collecting coffee from the kitchen and she was standing there with her secretary and some guy who was a detective, and they were just laughing. (She is happy. she thought.) During the afternoon they discussed the higher risk investments she was looking for and the reporting parameters, the notifications she would require from them.She asks them if they can manage this sudden additional investment. The day passes, she buys them all a meal in the hotel, she apologizes for not being able to go to the restaurant they suggested. [...] [At breakfast an old Japanese man in the hotel was delighted to be speaking with someone from his home. Since I am rarely at home. I have times of great stagnation. It's because (opposite of stagnation) is for the strong. I am resigned because resignation is for the noble. I am a businessman because it was once a great thing to be. I am old because I survived. I don't mind my silence, because silence is for the strong. I am all of these things because I am weak. I suffer and complain at the waste of my time. The three looked at him. She said. We will never see you again, because we cannot be seen. never speak to us again, because we cannot be spoken to. We are never silent, because we speak with one another. We will speak to a dragon today, we may not live. It is not and will never be safe for you to speak with us.] [They drive. She talks to them about how dangerous her sister dragon is. we know we volunteered. The younger man says.]

She arrives at the Kwarbarti offices, surprised at how luxurious they are. She tells them she is here to see Director Park. The receptionist looks at her carefully. She asks the receptionist to tell Director Park that her sister is here to see her. Handing the receptionist her bilingual card. She asks her to notify her and that she will wait, wait wait for her reply. Her two bodyguards were sitting on leather chairs drinking takeaway coffee from the Starbucks next door. She turns back to the receptionist and asks her to tell her she has two bodyguards with her. The receptionist was touching a few virtual buttons. "Hello Nancy. Could you tell Director Park that a woman claiming to be her sister is here to see her, and that she has two bodyguards with her. Please sit down, Director Park will be down shortly." She is looking forward to going back to Tokyo in few days time. Wondering how this meeting with her sister will go. She thinks of the neutrons passing through her body. A woman of indiscernible age emerged from the lifts followed by two men who followed the woman to scrutinize her before leaving. She gave her a card, keep this card with you at all times. You can't move around the building without it. The doors won't open. (The men are police, they come and visit Director Park occasionally.) I will take you to her office. She handed the bodyguards cards, come upstairs its more comfortable [...] Park is making tea in the kitchen, slicing fruit with a large triangular kitchen knife. Talking to a man in a black suit who was talking in japanese with her, she was correcting his bad grammar. She stopped seeing them standing. [Park imagined killing the two men with the knife, then her sister]. She looks seriously at her secretary. Nancy could you put a conversational Japanese budget together for him. But I didn't... She smiled at him, it will be useful later. I will, and and also I'll look after them and bring tea. Nancy said. [She twirled the knife, thinking of them lying on the floor and blood.] "He'd never forgive me." She said loudly to herself. Picked up her tea and a piece of pineapple. She took her sister to her office [...] He asked Nancy what had just happened. She wants to know if your japanese can be improved. If so there will be new work later[...] Tea, coffee ? In the banalities of the everyday there are things that are bound up in the hegemony. Like Siegfried hunting down the lovely Brunhilde, who saves him from the dragon both suffering from the fear; of walking away from school, of running away from work, the fear of talking yourself away from the family, the fear of resisting, poor Siegfried and Brunhilde endlessly bound by the machines of domination. But here and now she has left the knife and thinks of him and smiles her way back to her office. She is still smiling as she gestures at her sister to sit down. She asks who the two men are, bodyguards she queries? She shakes her head, not really they are friends, who are accompanying me pretending to be bodyguards. I didn't really know this before today.

What do you want Seo? All hope for intra-familial pleasantries vanished. She tells her that she is here to to to ensure that peace continues. A few things need resolving to guarantee this: (Nancy brings a few porcelain cups and saucers into the room. She asks her = Could you call him and see if he could come and collect me this afternoon. Let me know.) Firstly, the money in Switzerland, we need it back. Secondly, in exchange we will give you a substantial stake in a company that we own which about to IPO, which will require some minimal work from you. Thirdly, this will guarantee your safety and you will be left in peace. I will need some guarantees she says. (Nancy leaned in through the door, between five and six at the latest. Possibly earlier if he can escape.) It was one of those moments when a third party asks you if the love you feel for another is a truth event, heavily disguised but the meaning is crystal clear like a hotel. Seo smiles tentatively and asks - Is he the one ? Yes, we are together. We would probably have run and vanished, but were offered some safety under perpetual surveillance by his police boss. He is monitored through his work. I am also under surveillance. Then there are your people and I am sure some others. (Park shrugs,) When i went into exile i imagined i'd just be lightly monitored. Instead I have become a commodity under constant surveillance. Only he keeps me grounded, only him. She smiles warmly. And of course I keep him grounded and safe. I didn't know. We thought only we were monitoring you. I will collect guarantees for you, confirm them next week. Then we can discuss the options associated with the second to you.

They exchange further and actual pleasantries, promises. Exchanging Business cards, email addresses, encrypted secure PtoP chat addresses. Talked about their lives. Afterwards she realized she was horrified by the way her sister seemed almost normal, the topology of her everyday life drawn out and compared to hers. She talked about her life in Japan, the past few weeks spent with her friends/bodyguards and switzerland, germany. What will you do this evening ? "We three", she gestures at them, they look up. "...will drink Mohitos and perhaps eat fish in the hotel...You ?" I will tell him about your visit and that we are speaking to one another, and that I will be giving the investments in switzerland back. He will say that he is pleased as he didn't like being so rich. She speaks of the experiment as being successful and that they will probably be together forever now as there is nobody else they could trust. [They will, as you know, live together for the next 50 years.] Language and characters fall as they strike the glass walls of the office to land on the floor, what is said being inherently unreliable as the order-words meet and the parasites are softly pleased.

[Nancy escorts them out and takes their passes from them on the ground floor. Ït's good you came with friends and not bodyguards, it helped her to relax, she is sensitive about these things. They leave and return to the hotel. They talk about {Friends} over drinks and food. What else could you call us or would call us? Seo challenges them. Ordering more Mohitos. They talk about being friends - they had never thought about it before. If its not friendship and who else could I possibly have taken to this meeting with my sister? Then what else could it be. She is looking quite earnestly at the younger man. He smiles and says feed me a Mohito. These are lovely. He nudges his friend who is looking bemused. I thought she wanted to kill me when she was cutting up the pineapple. Me too. She looks at them affectionately. You know that we are the only three people around the council who are safe in this country. That's pretty scary, the older man said. What ? The politics of friendship. We are lucky that we are a fratriarchy she said. I propose we toast the fratriarchy ! Later as they fall asleep they will wonder when and where this had started...]

She went and sat on Nancy's sofa. Looking across the office and out of the window at the building opposite. She was feeling feint and looked pale. Nancy looked at her and asked if she was all right? She tells her that she feels terrible, is feeling slightly sick and weird. Nancy produces a bottle of polish vodka from her cupboard and some shot glasses. I feel sick, she says again. Vodka is poured into the the the crystal shot glasses. She is speaking of things that Nancy cannot understand but will repeat later. - I never expected them to send her [what?] [probably] just to remind me what I have lost. The price of being here. My family, belonging, sense of identity, place. It appears i lost so much [...] More vodka is poured into glasses. Why did you leave? I thought you knew that I left because of him. Do you regret it at all ? She poured herself another shot, ate some some pieces from the bento box that had magically appeared on the low wooden table. Not at all, even with all that I lost, i like it here. I feel sick. Nancy looked suspiciously at her. Nancy's assistants collated the outstanding reports and documents and put them in neat piles on the table. Yellow paper notes notes describing each piles contents. Seeing my sister reminds me of what I am, perhaps I don't really want to be reminded. He emerges from the lifts and walks through the office. She never understands why the strange feeling of terribleness makes her feel so strange, she begins to cry. It is when things are too much for us that we cry - even when we cry for joy, but imagine that at this moment she felt terrible. He sits down and puts his arms around her. Even as this makes her feel safe and enables her to stop crying, she still recognizes how stupidly illogical this is. Later when she thinks about this she wonders where the joy came from.

The three of them sat together in first class on the Tokyo flight, they played Go, watched terrible horrible hollywood movies, read and talked talked and talked. They didn’t look like gangsters she thought. A few months later they were in Shanghai before returning to London...

#everyday practices #london story #fiction #tokyo

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katesdailyscramble · 4 years

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Mentor Report - Or, A Conversation with a Friend

~ My first night in Shibuya - (L-R) Kaho (kind student we met), Me, Madeline, Natalie (two of my friends on the trip), and Mari I have known Mari since 2017 because we took the latter two years of classes for our Japanese major in the same tight-knit class of students - we were together for each term except for when she studied abroad at Aoyama Gakuin University in the spring and summer of 2018. I met her on my first day as a transfer student at North Central, and I have always liked her bright, fun, and real personality and have been impressed by her smarts and ability with Japanese. To be honest, her interactions with Japan and Japanese culture have influenced me a lot, and I look up to her. We shared one memorable experience in particular on the D-term trip last December where she showed me and my friends around Shibuya. She was not on the trip, but staying with a friend in the area, and met us to introduce us to her city. After getting off the suffocating train at 5:30 on a Friday night, we popped out of the Hachiko entrance and were wowed by the neon lights, advertisements, and sheer number of people bustling about the square. Mari guided us across the famous Scramble Crossing, gave us a personal tour of the 109 fashion mall, and led us to an izekaya (Japanese bar/pub) she recommended, all while telling us about her life in the city. Her sense of fashion – bold, punk, and clearly influenced by the street vibe – was something I adored, and seeing Shibuya through her eyes made me fall in love with it. Upon hearing that Aoyama was only a five minute walk from the main crossing, I was more attracted to the area than ever. I met with some Japanese students in Shibuya later on in the trip when we went back to Tokyo, and the amazing time I had with them further emphasized my love for it. I think it was then that I knew I might want to study abroad, that I was capable of doing it, and that I had a good idea where I might want to go.

~ Shibuya 109 (November 30th, 2018) By the last term of my Japanese class, nearly all of my classmates had studied abroad in different parts of Japan, so I had heard a lot of stories, both good and bad, about living in the country and what it was like. Still, even though I had heard Mari's stories more candidly during throughout the year, it was interesting to interview her in a more concrete way about Japan. She confirmed that it is much like its ratings on various scales labeling it as collectivistic, high-context, and hierarchical – people are very much oriented toward thinking about the group, thinking about how their actions will affect the group as a whole, and how to best proceed so there is the best possible outcome for the group. There is a lot of context from the language based on what is not said in a conversation being more important than what is actually said, and hierarchies between people are honored with degrees of bowing and the level of diction or types of words used to address people (formal language is known as keigo, or respectful language). However, she said there is a big difference between what it is actually like versus how it is portrayed by the media and news. Popular media tends to display 'cool' or 'weird' things from Japan which are extremely technologically advanced or fun, and it becomes defined to the Western world as a magical land where people are all in harmony, live interesting lives, and few things go wrong. In reality, there is a lot of group-behavior and not a lot of conflict, but the lack of conflict and constant focus on efficiency can make it so a lot of people lose their voices and become a number in a swarm of people. There is also a dark side to the country, specifically with its working culture, which Mari labeled as the thing which surprised her the most about living in Japan. Being out late at night, she would frequently see salarymen stumbling down the road, drunk, or simply passed out on the side of the street from exhaustion. The commute to work may be so hard and the work week so long and demanding that it is simply easier for some to sleep in the middle of road rather than going home only just to leave early in the morning to return. It is the same thing for them everyday, and Mari described seeing all of their faces with neutral expressions, not so much from the politeness and apathy we are conditioned to think of, but simply because they are too tired. These adverse working conditions, demand for loyalty to companies, and difficulty in going home on time due to hierarchy-based social rules makes the Japanese average working individual have a very hard life, and this was something Mari was not expecting to see so starkly during her time in Japan.

In terms of differences found between Japan and America, Mari named some things that I was aware of and a few things which surprised me. In terms of differences, she mainly discussed how people tend to handle expressing themselves and showing who they truly are. In America we are very open about our emotions, how we feel about certain people or activities, and who we are as individuals. Someone may talk a lot and share very personal things without even being prompted, and this may make others either feel more intimate with that person, or very uncomfortable. I think our eager display of ourselves both has to do with individualism and our need as a low-context culture to always be stating our opinions aloud. Contrastingly, Mari talked about how people in Japan are far more private, specifically citing the Japanese concepts know as tatemae and honne. Tatemae (建前 - composed from the words 'to stand' and 'front') refers to the face we show to the public that does not know us; it is the face which is polite, properly in line with customs, and generally blends in with the rest of the population. Honne (本音, 'actual sound') is our true self who only we and perhaps our most intimate friends and family can ever know. In terms of Jungian theory, tatemae could be comparable to a persona, while honne refers to the self.

Mari also brought this up when describing the most important thing I should know about Japanese culture – the need for privacy and distance between others (this so vital that I noticed even the kanji for 'I' - 私 - means 'private'). Interactions between cashiers and customers are practically robotic, while here we may compliment someone or strike up a light conversation. People in Japan do not share private information unless they are particularly close, and sharing those types of things can indicate that the sharer feels intimate with the listener. If the listener does not see them in the same way, they can become very stressed from learning this information, which puts pressure on them due to the other person's expectations about the relationship. It seems to be like when you learn someone views you as their best friend when they are only an acquaintance to you. Although this is not directly being said, the Japanese would interpret sharing information of that level as a declaration with equivalent meaning. Mari talked about how Japanese are constantly thinking about what they share affecting others, and so most tend to share minimal or fanciful things that don’t really have substance from a Western perspective. She described it even as being “fake” sometimes, so you may never know what someone actually thinks about you. A person may agree to meet you somewhere, knowing they are not going to go – then, Mari said, they cancel at the last minute, but do not feel bad since they never intended to come in the first place. This seems to be a form of high-context communication where it is easier just to not show up and make an excuse rather than simply telling the person they do not like them or that they do not want to go. They are communicating their message still, but in a very indirect way. I can imagine this being very difficult to handle, especially when making friends, so I will be wary when I go to Japan. I do not want to be suspicious of or think badly of people, but I will try not to get my hopes up too high if plans somehow fall through.

Along that same line, she discussed how the night life and drinking culture may make it easier to establish relationships – in an informal setting, with your system slightly inebriated, it is psychologically easier to let go of the strict norms on privacy and become yourself. I imagine this is why bosses will go out to drink after work with their employees; it is very much a social monopoly of the worker's time and another part of the job (which isn't the best), but it functions as a way to get to know their coworkers more so than any functions occurring in the actual company building. I have heard from her and other Japanese students that Aoyama especially has a big drinking culture, and so while I don't want to be socially pressured into drinking, I realize I will have to do so (or at least hang out with the students at bars with a glass of water) in order to make closer friends at the school.

When finding similarities between America and Japan, Mari found it a bit harder to answer, but she eventually decided upon Japanese youth. Although the older generation is very focused on tradition, respect, and all other things typically Japanese, the younger generation is very progressive, open-minded, and ready for new ideas to incorporate into the culture. I think this must have something to do with the globalization of the world through the internet, and while this can be true wherever you go, I think it is particularly interesting in a country like Japan. America is generally (hypothetically, at least) about liberty, free thinking, individuality, and the idea of being able to do whatever you want if you work hard enough, based on the American dream. Older adults (especially baby boomers, nowadays) are more conservative when it comes to things like LGBTQ+ rights, abortion, and other topics, but in terms of ways of thinking about liberty and individuality, I do not think they are incredibly different from millennials – that is, in comparison to the gap between the younger and older Japanese. Japan is so deeply ingrained with tradition, specific ways of doing things, and going along with the collectivist views of the group that I feel young people are jumping a wider gap to get to progressive ideas about individuality and expressing themselves without having to abide by all of those rules and constraints. Mari said these contrasting perspectives belonging to the younger generation will make a great difference for the country in the future, and I am inclined to agree. I see this happening everywhere eventually, but I think Japan will alter greatly within the next few decades as new people come into power. I had not thought of this similarity before, but I still really agree with Mari's thoughts regarding this.

Although I have gained the same basic classroom education as Mari for the Japanese language since we had our last two years together, meaning that I didn't have much to ask her in this regard, she was able to give me one great tip – don't be afraid! She said that when she first got to Japan, she was terrified of using her Japanese, leading her to not speak it at all. Eventually, when she realized that she was never going to get better if she didn't try, she made an effort to speak it as much as possible, regardless of her fears, and that made all the difference. She advised me to try to speak as much as possible even if I don't know the right words – I should just try to get by and convey as much as I can, making a good effort without being worried about potentially offending anyone. I will get some free passes as a foreigner, and so I should simply try my best at all times. Mari has claimed frequently that the greatest influence on her improvement in Japanese abroad came from talking with people and interacting with others in the city, not from the daily language classes at school, and so I want to imitate that by getting past my introverted fears and really trying to interact with others. Still, she did express that this may be hard at times, especially in terms of how Japanese people view Americans.

Mari said they have a lot of misconceptions about Americans, generally viewing them as loud and obnoxious (true?) and all about football, McDonalds, and obesity. While she didn't experience any discrimination specifically for this, one interaction she often described was being spoken to in English by employees or cashiers when ordering, and then being complimented on her 'amazing Japanese' after responding back with a simple sentence in the language. Sometimes she would even ask questions in Japanese for them to reply “no English,” which she understandably found exasperating. I think it will be harder for me to just begin speaking Japanese when people try to converse with me in English, but I also know that this is the only way I will improve. Although I think this has more to do with me being foreign and white rather than specifically American, it is an assumption that will usually be placed upon me, one I need to be careful of as I try to live in Japanese society and speak the language. Being a foreigner, I also assume they will think I do not know the rules (which I generally do not), so I am glad that Mari gave me a few pointers there, too. I already knew about actively listening (aizuchi) while others are talking, as well as the social shaming for eating and walking at the same time, but she reminded me of these taboos and social behaviors to follow, so I will reinforce them in my brain before I go.

In discussing school and Aoyama in general, one thing Mari mentioned made me a bit more sure of myself and my decisions as far as living arrangements. She shared her story of how she was actually supposed to study abroad for a whole year, but once she arrived in September, where she had rented her own personal apartment, she felt incredibly alone, overwhelmed, and needed to come home after just a little while in Japan. Reflecting upon it, Mari advised me to not overestimate myself as she had done – she thought she could live all by herself in a new country without any kind of support system in place. She felt it was better for her to stay in the dorm upon returning to establish that community of international students, so I am happy that I am choosing to live there rather than on my own or in a sharehouse. I can get some privacy with my room, but I am still in a community. The only issue here she raised was that the international students can become clique-y and tend to only speak English with each other – because she really wanted to improve on Japanese, Mari removed herself from them more and more, eventually coming to treat the dorm as an apartment as she gained more Japanese friends outside of school. I do not want to get stuck in a comfortable bubble of only being with other international students, and so while I know I may not be adventurous as Mari or able to put myself out there, I want to make an effort to socialize in other places so this doesn't happen to me. I really want to improve my Japanese skills, and I can't do that if I keep speaking English.

In terms of Aoyama's school work, Mari described it as very light, with only a midterm and final exam, or equivalent papers. The Japanese language classes are a bit more difficult, but overall it is much less demanding than school in America. From what I know about the Japanese education system, everything is focused on getting into a good university, and as long as you graduate, you will be taken up by a good company where you can earn a nice salary. Job preparation does not really happen in college – once you are in the company, they will spend time training you to do your job. Depending on the quality of the college you go to, the company generally assumes that you are capable of doing the work they ask of you. Thus, one's time in college is typically referred to as ‘the spring break of life.’ Mari said we would be fine and not stressed whatsoever, but I am still a bit skeptical. I am extremely focused on my schoolwork at all times since I associate it deeply (and unhealthily) with my self-image and worth as a person, but I hope that I will be able to change this perspective a bit in Japan. While I do not want to neglect my grades, I am more worried about neglecting the country, cultural experiences, and friendships I will have right at my fingertips. I don't want to be holed up in my room studying each night, and especially since this is my last term as an undergraduate, I want to be able to have that spring break experience as well. As I described before, Mari learned the most Japanese from being out in public with real people, and I want to take advantage of that opportunity as much as possible

Overall, I really enjoyed my conversation with Mari. There were some things I knew, some I didn't, and some on which she gave me a new perspective, so I am very grateful I got to talk with her. I am not sure if she'll be returning to Japan any time soon, but I would love to meet up with her there again if I could! She's helped me prepare just a bit more for my journey in the spring, and so I am grateful to her as a mentor and as a friend.

#katesposts #studyabroad #journal #japan

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shelleyrobbinsus · 5 years

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Your looooooong flight survival guide

âI can come back any time, broâ I said to my friend Dylan last week as we lounged in his backyard in the Los Angeles hills. âItâs only a 12-hour from Manila.â

I caught myself. Something is really wrong with me, and it wasnât just the copious amounts of wine Iâd consumed talking. In my mind, it really was no big deal taking a full half-day flight to come back for a special occasion. In fact, Iâve taken quite a few ridiculously long flights lately, since I live in Southeast Asia but come back to visit family, friends, and clients in the United States at least once a year. Flights that are 8, 10, 12, and even 14 hours long are the norm these days. So, too, are shorter flights, as Iâve taken nearly 100 flights one hour or less over the last two years by my estimation. Those long ones, thoughâ¦

In fact, I have an upcoming ticket booked from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City allllllllll the way to Manila in the Philippines, approximately 8,000 miles away. The time in flight? About 15 hours.

I know it will be friggin miserable and I might go bat-shit insane around hour 11, but thatâs nothing new. With the advent of these new behemoth aircraft and innovations in technology, it seems that flights literally across the world will be something we see more and more, and thatâs fine by me!

Still, Iâm not sweating it too bad because Iâve developed strategies, techniques, and hacks to help me deal with marathon flights over the years.

Here are a few:

Book a direct flight! The problem with most long travel days isnât solely the length of the flight, but the fact that you have to take more than one flight. The time it takes to land, taxi, get off the plane, possibly get your bag and/or go through customs, check in again, wait for a long layover, take off again, and do it all over is prohibitive. For instance, that 15-hour flight from New York to Manila would probably be a 24 hour travel day if I took the typical route and landed in Japan, Korea, or Taiwan for a layover. Go direct whenever you can.

Upgrade! Business class is way about my pay grade (and first class is nothing but a pipedream). But, these days, there are a whole lot of ways to try and get creative for a better seat. That includes Premium Economy or even paying a little bit extra for an exit row seat. Some airlines also offer a bidding process (like Philippines Airlines), so you can make an offer for a better seat. You wonât know if youâll get the seat until about 48 hours before the flight, but, at that point, youâll get an email alerting you that your bid was accepted (and your credit card charged). I just got a business class trip from Manila to San Francisco on Philippines Air and it was HEAVEN!

Or, get an exit row. Sometimes, you donât have to pay a cent for an exit row seat â just show up about four hours before your international flight or three hours before a domestic flight and youâll probably be first in line. Simply show up and ask and they usually have one available.

Where should you sit? Window seats are for rookies who want to see the view. Center seats are for suckers. And the aisle row is where veterans of the flying game sit. Likewise, try to get a seat in the front or back of the main cabin, so youâre closer to one of the bathrooms.

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Despite the minor inconveniences, long lines, and frequent delayed flights, I love Cebu Pacific Air because they take me to some incredibly beautiful islands!

A post shared by AllWorld.com (@allworldonline) on Dec 10, 2018 at 9:02am PST

Adjust for the dry air The atmosphere on an airplane is about seven times more arid than normal breathable air.So, I adapt by bringing a chapstick, wet wipes,and skin lotion and use them several times, as well as drinking tons of water. I also use rewetting eye drops periodically, but thatâs just me because I have bad peepers.

Limit the alcohol. This may not be popular, but limit the alcohol in your system because that can dehydrate you even more, and contribute to jet lag. There is also NOTHING worse than starting to get a nice buzz in the airport while youâre waiting or on the plane, only to wake up six hours later and youâre hungover and you STILL have hours to fly.

It ainât exactly clean. I make sure to carry several antibacterial sprays or hand sanitizers, and reach for them like a gunfighter in a shootout at high noon. Antibacterial wipes are great, too, as they literally NEVER clean your armrest or the tray table on airplanes.

Try to eat healthy. For those same reasons, donât overeat and try to keep your food healthy. Itâs harder for your body to digest under those stressors and at altitude, so anything you eat will sit like a lump in your stomach, and make you feel more bloated. Especially avoid fried foods and salt.

Get up and walk. By the time the flight is over, my feet and ankles look like Iâm a stunt double in a remake of Eddie Murphyâs The Nutty Professor. Not only is it important for me to dress in loose clothing and wear comfortable shoes, but I have to remind myself to get up every hour or two, walk around, and stretch a little. Even when Iâm sitting, I can still flex my calves, roll my ankles, etc. to keep the blood moving.

What to wear. Speaking of which, I have a normal outfit (like jeans and a sweatshirt or shorts and a tank top) for the airport, but then throw my comfortable clothes in my carry-on bag for the flight. That means big loose sweatpants, basketball shorts underneath, warm, fluffy, loose socks, a dry fit compression shirt, and a big super warm sweatshirt. I also wear those Adidas athletic sandals that let me shuffle around in comfort but are open enough to accommodate those big socks. Thereâs nothing worse than tight shoes for a 12-hour flight!

Media. Movies, movies, and more movies. A series of Game of Thrones you havenât yet seen will be like paradise on a long flight! Books are fine too, of course. Oh, and check ahead of time to see if they have outlets at your seat so you can regulate your laptop or iPadâs battery accordingly. Noise-cancelling headphones definitely help.

Bring a pen. I usually carry a spare pen so I can fill out my visa or immigration forms on the plane instead of in a rush when I land. Oh, and try to get some currency of the country youâll be visiting before you get on the plane.

Emerg-C it. To put it bluntly, airplane air is nasty. Itâs recirculated throughout the plane the entirety of your flight, which means youâre breathing everyone elseâs germs. That exposure to so many coughing sneezing and who-knows-what-else people is hard on the immune system, as well as time changes, lack of sleep, etc. So, I always take zinc tablets or Emerg-C a few days before the flight, the day of traveling, and a few days after. It helps!

Earbuds or eye shades. If you have trouble sleeping.

Chewing gum. I bring gum for the takeoff and landing, as it helps my ears.

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taesthetes · 6 years

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Travel-anon-hi! Good luck with your midterms and projects! Know you'll do great on them :D You'll get to be a weekend potato again soon, and better, a summer (baked) potato! Oo, road trips aren't a thing I've done with my friends actually (or on my own), but maybe I should try it since you said it's fun~ True, it's a little worrying on safety if you're going alone (+ rooming fees are scary as 1 person). I tend to keep to messaging people back home when I go alone, just so they know I'm ok (1/?)

(2/?) Korean fried chicken is so good there, and the prices are so cheap! I had a giant table-sized platter at a place in Hongdae before, and it was less than $7 aslviaijds it fed 3 people in one go. Cafe culture game is strongest out of all the Asian countries I’ve been to though! A lot of them are cute/indie/niche, which is really cool compared to all the franchised ones we have, yeah :/ I stray towards chai lattes and sesame drinks a lot at cafes c: or hot ciders! I try a lot of things tho!

(3/?) asjkla don’t get me started on sweets, haha. I plow through those like nobody’s business! You mentioned you don’t like coffee and sweets, but would you try anything else besides the matcha? It was a dream! A very furry dream. I’m not joking, I came outta there covered in fur all over (rip my black clothes), but I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Those dogs were so cute 💖 There’s a lot of dog and cat cafes in Japan too! Would you stop by one while you’re in Japan? I saw some in Harajuku~

(4/?) Euh, I normally wouldn’t mind sharing my galleries, but my artist handle is the same as my username on tumblr, haha. I’m a little intimidated since it’ll take me off anon status, sorry ^^; If I could include photos in asks, I’d just drop one here for you tho. Humidity is why I normally travel during fall/winter, haha! Humidity won’t kick my butt then, and leggings & sweater wear retains it’s place as my go to fashion too! Lowkey amused that we have that in common too~

(5/?) Wow! You visited a lot!! The Palace of Versailles was my favourite out of the ones you listed! Which one’s yours? All of it’s sooo pretty! Switzerland is super scenic and green, from what I remember - very different from most of the other European cities. Oo, Vietnam sounds so nice! I’m looking forward to hearing about your travels there! Haha, that sounds like my friends and I in Japan once. We kept getting plushies from a crane game, and trolled our bystanders into thinking it was easy!

(6/?) I always come back with a pile of plushies and snacks (little anything else); usually sneak the food through customs too ;u;~ Japanese snack-wise, I actually like kitkat, haha! They have so many different flavours there!! I prefer eating street food moreso there, there’s a lot of variety, but dango has my heart and soul. So sad I don’t have it here. Are there any foods you’re looking forward to from Japan that you’ve heard about and want to try :D? Festivals have a lot to offer!

(7/7) Yup! Japan Rail Pass is where I got it! You can pick it up in the airport, and return it using the mailbox there too c: Aw, would you go back to Japan sometime after this trip? A week isn’t really long, but you can definitely make the most of it with everything you’ll see and photo! Have lots of fun there 💖! Gonna try a new manufacturer~ I got spoiled on twt for the movie, cuz people didn’t tag cry D: you can still do those while studying too tho ;D good luck! Wow these are getting long

hello, m’love! and thank you!! i finished my econ project today and took my marketing midterm, so fingers crossed, everything goes well :D omg i can’t wait to be a weekend potato again and yess, only one more month to go before it’s summer :’) ahhh yes, they’re quite fun! it’s nice to blast music and sing along as you eat yummy snacks and drive to the beach. i hope you get to go on a road trip sometime! the fees are pretty daunting, and omg yes that’s a good idea to keep texting people. my roommate and i do that all the time whenever either of us are out late and we have to walk back to our dorm.

oh my gosh, $7 only?? why can’t food be this cheap and good here ): i have to definitely go to korea for all the food and cute cafes. ahhh omg they sound so lovely, like i would most definitely visit as many as possible. oooh, i’ve had a chai latte, but i’ve never had a sesame drink before! what is it like? and omg like apple cider? apple cider is always nice. i’d try all the drinks if possible ahah

honestly, i’ll try everything when i’m in a different country, like i had so much gelato in italy and crepes and macarons in paris. i really like red bean buns, too, so i want to try those fish pastries filled with red bean in korea? i don’t remember what they’re called, but to be honest, asian street food and asian pastries all looks so good i can’t help but try it all. oh my gosh, i feel like i’ll be the same way if i go to a dog cafe because all i wear is black and dark colored clothes too, but dogs are always worth it :’) and omg yes!!! i’ll have to visit at least one dog cafe in japan and i also want to try one of those japanese jiggly cheesecakes!! everything in japan is so aesthetically pleasing.

oooh okay, no worries!! but askdjlfasdf feeling intimidated– i hope i’m not being scary to you D: please let me know if you ever feel uncomfortable with our conversations! nevertheless, i’m 100% sure you’re a super talented artist 💓 i wish i could travel in the fall and winter, but sadly, university gets in the way and i can’t miss class. and omg leggings and sweaters are the best fashion!! it’s versatile like a potato, and it’s always comfy. i practically wear my leggings everyday of the week.

the palace of versailles was breath taking with the intricate designs and everything, but i’d have to say the art museums hold a special place in my heart. i could spend all day wandering through the museums and reading up on every art piece. i saw quite a few art students scattered around with their big pads of drawing paper and drawing some of the paintings, and wow, i wish i had the chance to do that, like imagine living so close to these museums that you can visit everyday and draw something new.

oooh, i think switzerland was also named the place with the happiest people, too? and me, too!! i’m so excited for vietnam, oh my goodness. ahhh omg teach me your ways with the crane machine :o i hope that i’ll be able to get one plushie from it without blowing all my money. hmmm, maybe i’ll just come to japan with an empty suitcase and fill it up with all the plushies and snacks there. omg yes, i’ve heard of all the variety of kitkat flavors they have there! i actually just got a bag of green tea kit kats from my friend, and i don’t even enjoy sweets too much, but they’re heavenly.

oooh yes, i’m looking forward to all the street food. i had dango before here, but it probably isn’t as good as the ones made in japan ashkdflas ahhh i want to try everything tbh! but i saw there was this restaurant where you can actually go fishing for your fish and then they’ll make sashimi out of it for you, and that sounds amazing. and i really want to have takoyaki and okonomiyaki and udon and ramen and soba and gosh, just everything. i really, really want to visit japan one day during its cherry blossom season with all the festivities. were you able to visit japan when it was cherry blossom season? :D

oh wow, that service is really handy and convenient! i’ll make sure to preorder one for sure. i do want to go back to japan again!! i want to explore more of its beautiful cities and experience the festivals. hopefully, i’ll be rich enough to do that in the future :’) but yes to tons of picture taking, and thank you!! 💞💞 i hope the new manufacturer works out! fingers crossed!! and oh noooo D: gosh that really sucks– i hope you still have a good time watching it with your friends though ): ahaha well yes, i can, but i probably shouldn’t if i want to effectively study, and thank you!! ahhh and thank you for taking the time to send me such lovely messages! you really make my day with them 💘 and how was your day?

#replies #anonymous #travel anon #i hope you're having a good day!!#💗💗💗

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ranumba · 6 years

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Walking Down The Memory Lane of 2017

Over than 350 days passed by, and here we are at the end of the year. Where our mind can’t help but try to remember the path we’ve been through in each of the days. For me, if I have to be honest this is a year of self-acceptance. As I step into adult life as 23 years old young woman, this is the stage where mostly people said as a “quarter life crisis”. I have nothing to argue because I admit the validity on this. This is the moment where most of people on my age and I have to decide a step between choices in front of us. The dilemmatic post-graduation phase whether to decide what to do next, working in public or private company, working in high reputation company or moderate one, stick to the idealistic by working in a place that suit our background or deliberately change our direction by crossing another lane. There are more, whether to decide continue to master study or focus to find a new passion, for those who already with significant other maybe they will think about tie the knot first, or pending it, some others might still alone but eager to find one and anticipate a happy marriage as soon as possible. There are too many options to choose, and each of those is not an easy-bitsy choice as a lot of consideration followed. Your future might depend on your decision today. And the decision I’ve made for this year lead me to a lot of learning values of self-acceptance. Where the reality say differently toward my expectations and force me to accept everything with an open hand.

I imagined that by end of this year i would obtain my scholarship for my master program abroad and depart to my dream university at the first month of 2018 and experience my very first winter in my whole life, but what happened is I am here typing my year end post in my comfy bedroom inside my home sweet home and January 2018 I will still here. Dude the reality already spoke different about this expectation. I failed to get a scholarship, this wasn’t thing I imagine, this wasn’t in my plan, this will ruin my future but it won’t. Honestly it broke my heart the day I knew that I couldn’t go for my study in early 2018 as I planned. This is the biggest moment of self-acceptance and self-forgiveness. I tried to accept that it wasn’t my fault, it wasn’t because I am in-capable to receive that scholarship, it because it wasn’t my time, and everything happened for a reason. If I keep point out my failure in 2017, I will stuck in one place and probably I will spoil my precious times for the rest of the months. So I decided to move on and see the Brightside. One door closed, another will always open. I keep moving on and try to attempt my luck in other scholarships, I know it requires more time and patience, but I refuse to give up.

Talking about the Brightside, I looked back to the days I spent this year. One failure cannot replace thousands of precious moment I have created with a lot of amazing people I met and I spent time with in the rest of the year. I wrote this as the way I show my gratefulness despite my disappointment to one thing. It makes me feel that I am way luckier than I thought. At the beginning of this year, I spent my one full month to join an IELTS course and long story short I managed to get a good score for IELTS and got my very first LoA from my dream university in Holland. The most important is how I met my new friends from the class with similar motivation to study abroad, they keep my boost up. i will explain the rest in points form according to timeline (LOL such a lazy writer).

· ~ I met a new friend from Korea trough my bestie, she asked me to join her and her Korean friend sightseeing around North Bandung area, it was such a good day and always exciting to be a tour guide and make ‘em in love with my neighborhood

· ~ I had a gathering with fellow 2016 World Congress committees, it was marking that our whole event and cooperation as team has officially finished. I was the oldest in the team I guess, but dedicate myself to the utmost for my organization is never a disappointment, I love it. The fact that it was my last contribution in IAAS, I believe my younger brothers and sisters can do better to take care our beloved IAAS Unpad

· ~ I applied for one scholarship to Japan which held by one well-known Japanese company in Indonesia. Out of my expectation, lucky I got selected as one of 12 top applicants and had to thru psycho-test and interview in Jakarta for two days, although I didn’t make it for next stage at least I got new friends. Psst…free accommodation and extra fee for applicants. Alhamdulillah

· ~ It was a splendid day, there was a mini-reunion with my junior high school friends and TEACHERS. I am grateful to be a part of my JHS cause the “ukhuwah” is still well maintain until today, the fact that the teachers whom you left after almost 10 years still remember you and treasure you as one of their best student is so priceless. My best teachers ever.

· ~ My favorite person is never forget to remind me how important our family are, he always try to convince me that I should spend more time with them while I can, we will never know what future brings for us, as long as we can, we are available, do the simplest act for the sake for our family won’t hurt, in fact it is so much precious. I believe that, and I apply that as best as I could. I asked my cousins to watch a movie in cinema, i didn’t miss the family gathering especially on our big day like Eid where there I initiatively asked them to take a group picture that we missed last year, bought a bouquet of flower for my mom on mother’s day, and other simple quality time with them although it’s only for a lunch outside

· ~ This year on May when I turned to 23 years old, there wasn’t a big celebration. My birthday is never a time I anticipate to be honest because often times it just passed like other normal day. But I am so grateful that my close friends did their best effort to made my birthday special, I always love the moment when my friends, juniors, family, send me a birthday greeting and wishes me with all the best hopes. It shows how much people care and love me very much, and I am beyond happy for that

· ~ Another exciting moments in this year that I got to witness my friends graduation even one of my friends had to do the defend seminar while she was 8 months pregnant (what a super woman), be there and cheering them on their special moments is always give me another joy that they way to be happy is not only because of my own success, but for what people around me have achieved also. Again, I am grateful to witness their struggle to pass the tough college years because I know how hard it was when I was in their position, some of my friends still walking on their way for a graduation, they are not late once again, they walk on their timeline. Another “hikmah” that I failed my scholarship that I don’t busy with my own thing, instead I can help people around me more as best as I can to finish their research

· ~ Chili Padi Academy will always be a memorable event for me, the 2016 experience to be one of the facilitators came again to me this year out of my expectation, in 2017 I managed to join the team again although for “together gather” event only in Malaysia. I got to meet again my fellas from Singapore and Malaysia, Weihan and Xin Run my fav SG couple and Amalina who was about to get married when I met her I August. To be surrounded by inspiring and well-motivated people is always give me a positive energy and I am thankful that the whole team trusted me to involve in the project again. And right now we are looking forward for CPA 3 in 2018

· ~ My Taiwanese friends were coming to Bandung for a vacation, Robert contacted me few months in advance just to make sure whether I could take them for sightseeing and I said yes. It was a well-spend 3 days with them, I am happy to introduce them to a new culture, delicacy, and a splendid nature of my home town. We had a great time together, big thanks to my lovely bestie and my sister who accompany us and made the trip much more memorable. The more the merrier

· ~ On early September I receive an honor to deliver a simple sharing and presentation to over than 100 JHS students upon an invitation from my JHS teacher on their camping night, as an alumni although I am not too confident towards my sharing material but I tried as best as I could to motivate them to do better than me in the future, and I am proud how my juniors so much more improve each year compare to my batch. There is a saying that “no matter how far we go, never forget where we came from” and my junior high school is the biggest milestone that gave me much more strength to move forward to the place where I am right now

· ~ I completed my first level of Korean class, I didn’t really have intention to join this course at first but my bestie asked me to join this with her and it was quite worthwhile. Never stop to learn new thing, and from this experience I manage to improve my Korean language in a proper learning. Thanks to my Korean teacher Ms. Han and my other fellow classmates who made my Saturday in 2017 always meaningful + extra hangout after the class LOL

· ~ 2017 is the year where I received a lot of wedding invitations from my friends more than last year. Stepping into adulthood, wedding is one of top agenda to attend followed by a child-birth. It means a lot of extra effort to put make up and formal outfit for a wedding and quite expenditure to buy a present for my friend’s new-born baby. It is always exciting that I can be a part of their happy moment in their life, the fact that the wedding can be a mini-reunion with my JHS, high school ,or college friends . On top of that, I can learn the A to Z wedding, marriage, to parenthood preparation from friends who face this stage first, so I can be more prepare for my moments in near future hopefully :D

· ~ Ever since I start my effort to apply for master scholarship abroad, a lot of people around me gradually notice what I’m doing start from family, friends, junior, to my lectures and teachers. I am thankful that they always support me and deliver the humble prayer for me so that my wish can come true. Because of this also, a lot of my friends or even my juniors personally contact me to share the steps to apply the scholarship, dude…I feel like an information bureau lol, but I am happy to do that because sharing is caring, seeing a lot more people around me have the same motivation give me strength that “oh yeah…we can do this together” although in fact that I’m still struggling as well

· ~ Guys, this point will be more serious and a lil bit thrilling, believe it or not it happened to me. First thing first, be careful when you wrote a yearly resolutions. It becomes your du’a and Allah will direct you according to your hopes. So here is the reveal, I wrote several points as my 2017 resolutions and Alhamdulillah most of the points are granted and meet my expectation, but my main wish to get a scholarship was not a part of it. It turns out that I didn’t write one specific scholarship grant that I wanted to receive, I wrote more than one as options and DANG I failed one of the scholarships I wrote in the options, and it means I might get a chance in other scholarship right? And it just because the other scholarship application open by the end of 2017, doesn’t make me “fail” my wish literally in 2017 right? When I re-read my resolutions it gave me goose-bumps, I can’t blame Allah for not granting my wish it is because Allah has done right to lead my path according what I wish and what I wrote on resolution. I just didn’t realize that. And one more thing I skipped is that I had a resolution to do a volunteering this year, and Masha Allah if I got the scholarship this year I might too busy preparing stuff for departure and forget this chance. It means Allah doesn’t want me to miss the opportunity for doing a good deed in this volunteering. So I looked up in a volunteer platform online and I saw one volunteering chance in Bandung by Indonesia Association of Disability Women, I thought this is a brand new thing for me, I never in touch with the world outside agriculture and environment but this might be a good chance for me to involve in social activity. I plunged in and I am in love with this new world, although it is not related with my major at all but hey to do a good thing is only require a willingness and spirit I thought. I chose a role in publication as I consider this is the field I am familiar with since college, but most importantly I got to meet new friends with their different conditions, like deaf, blind, mute, or those with mental-difability. Being around them give me a huge reflection to myself, how lucky I am blessed with this perfect physical condition and health, I have nothing to whine about, I don’t deserve to complain about my limit, my new friends give me a valuable life lesson that I never had in class. Other volunteering I did was from my favorite NGO called Indonesia Diet Plastic Bag Movement, It was a short work term as I had to survey house to house in small area in Bandung and educate every household about the impact of plastic usage and encourage them to use reusable bag on daily basis. Those experiences gave me motivation to continue my deed as long as I can, it’s never too late to start

So….that’s all pretty much wrap up my not-so-pleasant-but-meaningful 2017, this post can’t compile all the memories I made in every single day, but these are just the representative that always can remind me of so many grateful things whenever I feel down later. My concrete plan for next year I think I will still continue my work as project research assistant with my lecture, continue my volunteer work, and probably a part time in English course as a tutor (well I don’t know, I know this is random but I always want to try this), I will spend more time with my beloved people, and I will still going on with my master study scholarship, hopefully in 2018 my biggest wish to study abroad will come true. And oh…..one more thing, much more delightful love life : I hope to see you soon Bear :)

The year of 2017 as a year of self-reflection, self-acceptance, a good lesson to face adulthood to become a better human being. This post will be closed with one reminder verse of Quran : “Are they, then, not aware that they are being tested year-in, year-out? And yet, they do not repent and nor do they learn a lesson (from it)”. - (Quran 9:126)

Have a very joyful and wonderful year ahead people.

Tanjungsari, 31st December 2017

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